Manila and the Philippines

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MANILA

PHILIPPINES.

MARGHERITA ARLINA HAMM.

P. TENNYSON NEBLT,

FUBUSHBB,
LONDON. \ C a & 1*^^ ^VBK.

\fig

Copyright, 1808,

by

F. TomwoH NBDif,

in

Untied State!

and
Great Britain.

ABBigt^ti

TO
BIZAL AND AQUINALDO,

THB DBAD MABTTB AKD LIYIIYO HKBO^

THIS BOOK IB DEDICATSD

BT THB AXJTHOB.

PEEFAOK

Tms volume is ba49ed upon notes made by the au-
thor while a resident and traveler in the Far East.
Some have been used in newspaper correspondence
for the New York Mail and Express, the New York
Sun, the New York Herald, the Baltimore American^
the Chicago Inter- Ocean, the San Francisco Ex-
aminer, and the Hong Kong Telegraph.

All has been rewritten and brought down to date
as far as it has been possible. The difficulties have
been numerous on account of the Spanish official pol-
icy of which the chief object apparently is the sup-
pression of all information concerning their Colonial
possessions.

The Author has met representatives from the five

classes that compose Philippine society: the Church,

the Army, the Office-holders, the Merchants, and the

Revolutionists, and thus has had the opportunity of

seeing Spanish Colonial dominion from as many

points of view.

M. A. H.

I

\ 1

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER L PiftB

Hit Roates to the Philippines 9

CHAPTER n.
The Island of Luzon 17

CHAPTER lU.
InManilA 86

CHAPTER IV.
The People of .Manila 89

CHAPTER V.
Manila Arohiteetore— Especially Roofs •.., 46

CHAPTER VL
Stores and Shops • 65

CHAPTER Vn.
Manila's Dailj Bread— Tobacco 65

CHAPTER VIIL
Around Lnxon 72

CHAPTER IX.
Cavity 84

CHAPTER X.
HoUo 89

CHAPTER XI.
Cebu 96

CHAPTER XXIL
Snlu—Citj, Island, and Sultanate 102

Tiii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XnL »ao«

Som« Historical Notes 118

CHAPTER XIV.
Ths Oovernment 120

CHAPTER XV.
Ths Philippine Newspaper World 128

CHAPTER XVL
The Natives 184

CHAPTER XVII.
Some Native Industries 140

CHAPTER XVUL
The Animal World 151

CHAPTER XIX.
The Feathered Population 159

CHAPTER XX.
Fishes and Reptiles 186

CHAPTER XXI.
Garden, Farm and Forest 178

CHAPTER XXn.
Mines and Metals 180

•

CHAPTER XXIII.
Typhoons 184

CHAPTER XXIV.
The Other Islands — the Ladrones, the Pelews, the Carolines. ... 188

CHAPTER XXV.
The Story of Rizal 207

CHAPTER XXVI.
The Future of the Philippines 218

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

opposmc

PAOB

Main Street, Manila. 22

A View of Manila 28

Qeneral View, Manila — Cathedral 44

A Half-caste Lady of Wealth 56

A Coantry House, Luzon 64

A Country Church, Luzon 72

Catholic Convent, Interior of Luzon 78

A Farm Buffalo of Cavit^ 86

Cock-Fighter Sulu 110

A Native College Class 116

A Mestizo 122

Main Boulevard, Binonda 180

Native Hut 186

Peddlers of Oil Industry 142

Packing Manila Sugar 148

Cock-Fight in Luzon 162

Native Fishing— the Banca 170

A Buffalo Cart on Runners 182

A View of Interior Village 186

Native Lumbermen at Rest 196

Natural Bridge and Native Vegetation 202

A Street Restaurant 210

k Sugar House... 216

(

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

OHAPTEB L

THB BOUTES TO THB PHILIPPINES.

The Philippine Islands, roughly speaking, are eleyen
thousand miles west by south of New York City and four-
teen thousand miles east by south. By train and mail
steamer they are thirty days' journey going westward and
thirty-five going eastward. Though a ciyilized land
they are comparatively difficult of access. The chief
way of reaching them is by one of the four lines running
regularly between Hong Kong, Amoy and Manila. One
of these lines is Spanish and the rest British. There is
a small Spanish line which goes directly from Spain,
stopping at Singapore as the last station before Manila
is reached. There is also a Japanese way which runs
from the land of the Mikado via Foo Ohow and Formosa.
But neither the Spanish nor the Japanese lines have as
yet attained the status of excellence demanded by trav-
elers. It may be said, therefore, that you begin your
voyage to the Philippines at Hong Kong.

When you buy your ticket you realize very thoroughly
that you are going to a country run upon a very differ-
ent system from any that you have ever been in in other
parts of the world. The company cannot sell you a pas-
sage until you produce your passport, vised by your own
oonsul and by the Spanish consul at Hong Eong. Your

10 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

own eonsol charges yoa nothing, bat the other one
must be paid a nice fee. You most also be identified.
If it turns out that yon are a missionary on eyangelieai
bosinesB bent, yon receiTo immediate notice that yoa
cannot enter the Philippines. If yon are a Protestant
clergyman trayeling for health, yon are notified that
yon are free to come and travel, but that if you endeaTor
to convert people, or to express opinions at variance with
those held by the Spanish government, you will be
arrested and deported.

This sounds strange enough in the last part of the
nineteenth century, but is, nevertheless, based upon
actual facts in that part of the world. Nor is this alL
You are notified in respect to smuggling, to apparel,
equipment, literature, and money. If you bring more
than a certain amount of clothing there are fees to be
paid. If 3'ou take a weapon with you, it is subject to
confiscation and you to fine. If you carry with you any
book, magazine or paper which is heretical, revolution-
azy, or anarchistic, or which throws odium upon the
Church, or reflections upon the governmeiit the matter
is liable to seizure and you to fine, imprisonment, and
deportation. Should you venture to express surprise at
this harsh system, or to indicate doubt as to the enforce-
ment of the law, a polite clerk tells you the fate of Dr.
Bizal, the Philippine patriot who was arrested and im-
prisoned because in his trunk there was fouiii a single
pciDpblet recommending reforms in the civil aud ecclesi-
astical administration of bis country. Tour wardrobe
for the Philippines is about the s&me as what you would
take for the West Indies, linen and flannel suits, dreaa
coats made of alpaca or black silk, a straw hat, and a
pith helmet for a gent-eman ; the lightest and thinnest
pongees, silks, laces, and nets for a lady. BdUi maa

Manila and the PHtLii>piNES. 11

and woman should have rubber shoes, a waterproof gos-
samer, a sunshade and umbrella, and silk, linen or cotton
gloTes. A large supply of handkorcbiefs, of underwear,
and of hosiery is a necessity in view of the climate and
the customs of the land.

A stranger to that part of the world should carry a
medicine chest, or in default of that a fair supply of
quinine pills, chlorodyne, and sun cholera mixture. The
traveler should have been vaccinated within five years.
In hygienic matters the Spaniard is a fatalist and laughs
at the idea of vaccination. The result is that smallpox
is endemic in all Spanish possessions, and in the win-
ter months often epidemic.

An American consul, who was a famous wit, expressed
this very epigrammatically by saying ''that there were
two seasons in Manila, the smallpox season and the
cholera season."

After you have complied with all the formalities de-
manded by Spanish law, and have procured the right
kind of money for use on the steamer and at your desti-
nation when you land, you make your peace with the
Lord and embark upon one of the steamers for the
Islands of King Philip.

The trip across the China Sea is alwa3''S pleasant and
sometimes very exciting. The steamers are very strong
and seaworthy and the captains are men of more than
ordinary intelligence and culture. I recall one. Captain
George Tayler, of the Esmeralda, who would have been
a star in any drawing-room. They speak English and
Spanish with a smattering of Chinese, "pidgin English,"
and Malay. They have to possess much tact and diplo-
macy in order to keep on good terms with the Spanish
officials, and to avoid the disastrous consequences of
violating that extraordinary body of jurisprudence
known as Spanish law.

lA MANILA AND THE! PHILIPPINE&

A few illustrations may i^ive a fair notion of
system. If a ship's manifest calls for a hundred barrels
of flour there must be one hundred barrels of flour to
verify the manifest. If there be one hundred and one,
or ninety-nine, the captain is liable to arrest, fine and
imprisonment, and the ship to seizure and confiscation.

It is not necessary to prove any intent in the matter nor
can an excuse be legally pleaded for excess or deficiency.
At the furthest an excuse or explanation may be urged
in mitigation of the offense. In that case the authori-
ties may graciously annul the judgment of confiscation^
and substitute therefor a heavy fine. If a stowaway»
especially one of a prohibited class, is found on board,
the same list of punishments await the captain and the
ship. If a passenger on board has no passport, or loses
it en route, or if it is too old or does not describe the
passenger accurately enough, there is another lisfc of
penalties awaiting ship and master upon arrival.
Of course the principle underlying all this red tape is
simply the extortion of money from commerce. It is
true that the money extorted is paid back by degrees in
the shape of higher freights and heavier charges of all
sorts, but this repayment comes from the entire com-
munity, and not from the o£Bcials, who are entitled to
two-thirds of the fines as perquisites of office. The run
from Hong Kong to Amoy skirts the China coast, and
gives^occasional glimpses of towns and fishing villages of
pagodas and joss-houses, in decay. The shore line is an
ancient granite formation, which has been beaten by the
storms of countless ages into all sorts of fantastic shapes
and outlines. Sometimes for miles it is a wall of peaks
and cones of a dull yellow-brown, where apparently no
life exists or ever has existed. Then again it becomes
rolling country with sand and gravel beaches, fields^

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 18

ftnd meadows beyond, and here and there the mighty
banyan tree, in whose shade five hundred people can
find Gomfort and ease. At another place infinite labor
has terraced the hillsides until they are seamed and
scarred, looking for all the world as if the earth-spirit
had started to ornament her outward garment with fine
tucks and pleats.

Then again the shore is broken by some riyer which
announces its restless activity miles away by floods of
yellow water slowly mixing with the blue of the sea.
There are islands large and small along the route. To
the northeast of Hong Kong lies Pedro Blanco, or the
White Stone, which rises a noble monolith higher than
the tallest mast of passing vessels. On the other side,
near to the land, is the famous group of rocks known as
the Nine Pins or the Devil's Nine Pins, which are high,
narrow blocks of stone, some straight, some apparently
about to fall as if stricken by an invisible giant ball
thrown by a genii. Halfway up the coast is Namoa
Island, the home of the pirates. Here up to the beginning
of this century was a community of freebooters, whose
ferocity, daring, and seamanship were celebrated the
world over. Even up to 1830, when there were warships
on the coast, piracy was a recognized profession. The
introduction of steam wrought its end. The steamship
was too fast to overtake, and the steam warship could
always overtake the pirate craft. Even at the present
time there are still pirates on the coast, and every ship
in those waters carries at least a dozen rifles, and two
dozen revolvers.

At Amoy the Manila steamers stop a half or a whole
day. There is a large commerce between China and the
Philippines even in spite of the obstacles and burdens of
Spanish law. From Amoy the steamers carry paving

14 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

stones for the streets of Manila and other cities, earthen*
ware, china, porcelain, dried fish, provisions, table
delicacies, medicines, and many textiles, more especially
Chinese silk, and the various kinds of grass cloth made
in Formosa, Chang Chow, and Swatow. Here the
steamer is visited by the Spanish consul at Amoy, or his
clerk. The functionary looks over the manifest, the pas-
senger list, and the passports. He vises the ship's
papers, and of course receives a fee for his trouble.
From Amoy the steamer runs southeast, not for Manila,
but for the north end of Luzon. This is done to take
advantage of the strong currents of the China Sea which
range from one to four knots an hour. There is one
current in particular which runs southward, parallel to
the coast of Luzon, which is said to reach five miles an
hour at certain seasons of the year.

The China Sea has often been compared with both the
Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. It has points in
common with both. It appears to be the generating
center of a large body of warm water which flows north-
ward and eastward, and it is also the scene of very
violent storms. The weather of the China Sea is its most
extraordinary feature. It may be said to consist of the
two monsoons, broken in the summer by typhoons and
in the winter by northern gales. The southeast or sum-
mer monsoon is a mild, warm, and balmy breeze which
blows continuously and scarcely rufi9es the water. The
northeast or winter monsoon is stronger and more fitful,
running as high as fourteen and fifteen knots, and pro-
ducing at some points a choppy sea, as disagreeable as
that of the British Channel, and at others a heavy, ugly
sea, which is the dread of all nervous or qualmish trav-
elers. The northeast monsoon is broken by occasional
gales which play havoc with the largest ships. It was

J

^

1

1

l^^^v aR^^^^I

1

" *«■ M

MANtLA AND THK PHILIPPINES. 15

One of taose storms which disabled the powerful P. & O.
steamer Bokhara, October 10, 1892, and drove it as a
strong team draws a plow among the shoals and banks of
the Pescadores. It is difficult to imagine the force
which can drag an ocean steamer of the largest size
along a sea bottom of rocks and coral sand, until the
plates and even the frames of the hull are ground away
in the process of erosion. But the fiercest of these
northeastern gales is a child alongside of the typhoon^
the scourge of the China Sea. Old travelers pronounee
the cooking on these Manila steamers to be the best in
the world. The chefs are Chinamen, who are cooks by
both education and inheritance, and their training has
made them masters of Spanish, French, English, Hindu,
and Japanese cooking, as well as of their native styles.
Upon the table may be found curries, green, red, and
white ; chutneys, preserved and green ; pressed fresh Ma-
cassar fish; Bombay ducks, which are not ducks, but a
kind of cartillaginous fish ; gauvas, fresh or in the form of
jelly, jam and paste; alligator pears, served with sherry
wine, or removed and made into a wonderful salad ; the
white hearts of the tops of young cocoanut trees slivered
into fibres an inch in length, and then served as either a
salad, a vegetable, or a sweetmeat ; golden mangoes, which
are simply unapproachable ; mangosteens, the daintiest
fruit this side of paradise ; and glorious ramputas, nick^
named by godless youths, ^'white-whiskered straw-
berries. '*

Here the epicure can find the Celt-Iberian delicacies,
bacalao a la Biscayeuse, chile Carne, rojo viejo, and frijolas
con farina. As if to show how closely the world was
tied up together one can eat prepared by a Chinese cook
the delicious pilau of Manila, which the Spaniards
learned from the Malays, which the Malays learned from

1^ irfANILA AND THE PH1LIJP1>INES.

their Mohammedan conquerors centariea ago, which these
learned from their ancestors in India. These in turn
from the people of Persia^ and they from Armenia \7hen
Armenia was an opulent, powerful and luxurious empire.
The coffee, whether of Java or Manila, is admirable and
the tea puts to shame that which is served in the great
hotels and restaurants of either New York or London.
Then there are delicacies which are unknown to the
Western world, the Canton rice bird, only an inch and a
half in length, and a half an inch in thickness. These
are stuffed with a curried stuffing, and then roasted or
fried, or else they are brochetted with alternating layers
of bacon and of mushrooms. There is stewed terrapin
made from either the marsh terrapin of Luzon or the
mountain terrapin of the Chinese hills, either of them
equal to the diamond backs of the late John Chamber-
lain. Then there are curious confections made from
tropical fruits, some dried, some smoked, some preserved
with honey, others with molasses, and still others with
white sugar, and then as if to stir up the happiest of
all mental complaints, homesickness, there are canned
Bartlett pears from California, peaches from Delaware,
succotash from Maine, and strawberries from New York.
The Anglo-Saxon genius is undermining the globe. In
the loneliest waters of the Philippines may be found the
British tramp steamer and in the smallest village Ameri-
can canned vegetables and on both a Waterbury watch.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 17

CHAPTER n.

THE ISLAND OF LUZON.

All voyages come to an end, and on the second day
from Amoy there is a cry of ''Land hoi" and there upon
the horizon lies an irregular dark purple "wall, making a
royal contrast in color with the sky above and the sea
below. As the ship approaches the color changes and at
last resolves itself into a green, richer and deeper than
that of the Emerald Isle. On the deck of the ship it is
easy to see that Luzon and the other members of the
Philippines are the result of ages of volcanic action and
much longer ages of erosion and weathering, of coral
building, and the growth and decay of swamps and
forests. Such, indeed, has been its history. Its vol-
canic features are almost numberless, and remind one
partly of Japan and partly of that long line of desert
rocks known as the Aleutians. On the other hand the
coral reefs and beds suggest the great barrier reef
of northeastern Australia. Strangely enough, too, the
fauna and flora are equally ambiguous, if that term may
be applied to the living kingdom. Unlike the mainland
there are no wild members of the cat family in the
Philippines. On the other hand there are many types
which are Australian in character, and which are not
found upon the Asiatic mainland or even upon Formosa.

The floral world has in it features of both Australia
and Asia, and even the human world has in it types as
low if not lower ^ than the aborigines of Australia, and

18 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

other types as high as those of the Malay states. It
woald seem, therefore, that the Philippines represent
the results of two different epochs. One was the epoch
which formed the long axis which begins in the Aleu-
tians, runs through Japan, the Loo Ohoos, and Formosa,
and the other epoch which brought up from the deep
Australia and parts of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and
Oelebes. The combination in the case of the Philippines
is a very happy one. The Tolcanoes produce mountains
many of which are now nine thousand feet high, and in
Bome geologic age must have been a mile higher. These
mountains supplied soil, sand, gravel, rocks, and ores.
The coral polyps built numberless walls and plateaus
which were elevated until they reached the air, and then
served as walls and breakwaters behind which pools,
shallows, marshes, and finally meadows rich and f ertile»
oame slowly into being.

From the steamer one can see the endless variety of
scenery and topography which resulted from this dual
cause. Here is a mountainous district and around it is
another district which may be compared with Holland,
or even the city of Venice. Lakes and lagoons beyond
number — bays and harbors, landlocked gulfs, fiords,
streams and canals are everywhere, and then again come
hilly districts, followed by meadows and mountain dis-
tricts, ranging all the way from Gape Bojeador down to
Serangani Point in the far south.

The process of land-making is still going on. Many
of the volcanoes are still active, and the patient coral
polyps never cease their labors. It increases the beauty
of the landscape to have mountains that smoke by day,
and glare like titanic lanterns by night. At the same
lime it is not altogether comfortable. Such instrumen-
talities of nature are usually accompanied by earth-

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 19

quakes^and earthquakes are certainly the most disagreea-
ble visitors known to civilized man.

Luzon is the most important of all the Philippines.
It is the most populous, having about five million people
within its shores, and it is also the richest and most civil-
ized. It is as large as New York, Massachusetts, and
Bhode Island, and has a shore line which if rectified
would reach from the Bay of Fundy to Key West. Of
its resources but little is thoroughly known. Spanish
policy has been toward discouraging all enterprise by
native as well as by foreigner, and the territory of to*
day is the same as it was a century ago, so far as investi-
gation and exploitation are concerned. This much,
however, is known. It contains large quantities of gold,
and undetermined amounts of silver, mercury, iron,
copper, lead, brown coal or lignite, petroleum and true
coal. It has an immense supply of hard, tropical woods,
and is fertile beyond all belief.

The Chinese and Tagal gardeners raise seven, eight
and even ten crops a year upon their little farms. This
is due to a rich, loamy soil, an unfailing supply of water,
good natural drainage, and bright, sunny weather nine-
tenths of the year. Everything grows as if by magio.
A yard left unoccupied for a few months becomes a wil-
derness of flowers and weeds. If left a year untouched
it becomes a jungle. All of this is suggested to the
observer on the steamer's deck. The rocks are green
with moss, heavy masses of creepers and vines hang upon
the face of every cli£F, thick forests are visible near the
shore and far away in the interior.

Scarcely a tilled field is brown or shows the earth.
The sprouting time is so short that the plowed field
of to-day takes a greenish tinge to-morrow, and has a
rich tii)t th§ dapr ^ter. Tl^ere fure other indication?

20 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

of prosperity and fertility. There are many native boats
along the shore, little Spanish steamers puffing noisily
as they creep from place to place. There are wagons
drawn by buffaloes on every road. There are huts and
hovels in every direction, and through a glass human
beings can be seen engaged in their daily vocations.
Further down the coast the steamer passes Cape Bolinao,
a bold promontory which runs out into the sea. Here is
the signal station from which the ship's approach is
telegraphed to Manila. Here also is the cable station
which sends the messages under the China Sea to far-
away Hong Eong. Near them is the lighthouse, that
ever welcome sight to navigator and passenger alike.
The station is very picturesque, the mountains and
forests, the great gulf of Lingayen, and the thousand
and one shades of green tend to make a tableau of
memorable beauty. From here it is but a few hours to
Manila Bay, which on account of its vast size ought to
be called a gulf. The opening is quite narrow and is
made all the smaller by one large rocky island in the
center of the passage known as Corregidor and some
smaller ones between Corregidor and the mainland.
Upon Corregidor is an ancient fort of more beauty than
utility, but giving a very pretty effect to the rocky walls
and the dark-green vegetation which surround it. Once
past the line of islands the great bay opens up as if the
explorer was starting into a new ocean. It must be
thirty miles in one direction and thirty in another.
Even then the figures are misleading, because at many
points the bay passes into shoals and salt marshes which
are part land and part water, and reach for miles up into
the interior. Streams run into the bay in every direc-
tion. In the rainy season they bring down huge bodies
of silt ftud even gravel and bowlders, so strong is the

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 21

force of the running water. It is this detritus which
has made the marshes, the shoals, and banks of the bay,
and which is gradually converting that great body of
water into a swamp, to change ultimately to noble
meadow land. The progress of the change is indicated
by the j'^ellow water of the bay, which at some points
looks like liquid mud, and by scores of buoys, some
floating and others driven into the mud beneath, which
indicate the rising of the bottom toward the surface of
the sea.

It takes a skilled navigator to run Manila Bay at full
speed. Nearly every ship which comes there slacks or
stops with signal flags thrown out for one of the official
pilots who make an excellent living at their trade. As
the ship goes on Cavite comes into sight and then
Manila. Cavite is a town on a small peninsula which
runs out from the mainland in a general northwestern
direction, inclosing a fine bay a little larger than that of
New York. On the other side of the bay lies the capital
of the Philippines. At Cavite is the government arsenal,
shipyards, docks, forges, and repair shops. There are
forts facing both west, north and northeast, formida-
ble in appearance, and seemingly armed with powerful
guns. The steamer passes, slackens its speed, and finally
drops anchor anywhere from a half-mile to two miles
from the city proper. The voyage is done, and the trav-
eler is now under the shadow of the red and yellow ban-
ner of Spain. The anchor is scarcely down when a
vicious little steam tug, laden with customs officials and
soldiers, dashes up to the side and makes fast to the
companion ladder. Then a small regiment of men pour
out of the craft on board the steamer. There is an in-
spector, proud and imperious, who goes immediately to
the captain's private room. He receives the ship's

22 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

papers and the passports of all the passengers, which
must be taken to the government house, and there be
entered and again vised. There is another inspector
whose duty apparently is to see that the ship is in good
sanitary condition, and that there is no contagious
disease on board. There is a third inspector whose
duties are seemingly to keep a sharp watch upon the
officers of the ship lest these should take wings and fly
away. A fourth inspector, and a fifth, stand on either
gunwale to prevent wicked passengers or seamen from
passing dutiable goods out of the portholes, or dropping
them with telltale floats into the water below. Then
there are several inspectors or searchers who go through
the ship. Most important of all is a small company of
soldiers who belong to the Spanish army of the Philip-
pines. It is considered a great privilege to do customs
work, and to get an occasional cup of coffee, table deli-
cacy, or cigar, from some one on board of the steamer.
So the thoughtful Spanish general assigns his best men
to this branch of the service.

In seeing these soldiers, therefore, you see the best of
the Spanish infantry in the far East. They are not a
bad-looking set. They are nearly all young, ranging
from sixteen and seventeen years of age to about thirty.
Some are Spaniards, some are Malays, and some are
half-breeds, whom it is difficult to determine. The
Philippines from time immemorial have been the bat-
tleground of many races. On Luzon there have been a
Negroid race, a Papuan race, two Malay races at least,
Chinese settlers, Japanese, and Spanish. None of these
races have kept themselves aloof from others, and each
and all have blended and reblended, until in the course
of time men and women have been produced in whose
veins was the blood of at least six different ethnic or
anthropologic types.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 23

The oommonest are the Spanish Malay half-oaste, next
are the Ohinese Malay, and then the Chino-Spanish, or
Eurasian. All three mixtures are satisfactory physically
and mentally, if not morally. There is in Manila the
same prejudice or superstition that is found in many
parts of this country, namely, that half-breeds generally
combine the vices of both parent races.

The assumption is probably as true there as it is here,
that is to say not true at all. The real meaning is one
that pride forbids to confess (namely) that the half-breeds
represent the unrighteous living of the men who make
the declaration. As a matter of fact these half-breeds,
poor, ignorant, and uncared for, make very good soldiers.
They are sober, faithful, and obedient. When it comes
to action they are brave, patient, and enduring. They
are not very neat in their appearance, their clothing is
old and shabby, their trousers a little bit fringed at the
bottom, and many go barefoot, or wear shoes through
which the brown skin is painfully visible. They are
small in stature, thin, lithe, and sinewy. They are
^aceful and many of them quite comely. Their weapons
are in fair condition, but are not of the latest pattern.
But all from the highest to the lowest are exceedingly
polite. Everbody bows to everybody else, everybody
smirks, everybody is perpetually expressing an interest
in the health and welfare of everybody else. If you be-
longed to the same family as your visitors you could
not receive greater attention. Everyone with whom
you have any official transaction hopes that you have
had a good voyage, and have enjoyed the trip, the ship,
and the courtesies of the officers. He hopes that your
health is faultless, that all of your relatives are in good
spirits, that you will grace Manila and the Philippines
for many years, and that you will take the same delight

24 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

in the pleasant people of your nationality ashore that he
and all of his circle do, and that the climate will prove
agreeable in every respect. There are twenty kind ques-
tions and thirty friendly hopes expressed by each inspec-
tor, searcher, and soldier. You are expected to smile
and thank him at each pause, and at the end to ask a
similar sezies in return.

It is a very pleasant system, but oh, it does so delay
travel ! After the first steam launch goes away, leaving
soldiers and a few other officials on board, another
launch comes, bringing health officers and more soldiers;
then comes a third launch bringing the agent of the con-
signees. Then come cargo and passenger boats of various
sizes and kinds. The passenger boats are called bancas
and are long, heavy, clumsy craft about two and a half
or three feet wide, and thirty or forty feet long. A
large part is hooded over, the hood, with a boat, forming
a dark tunnel into which you crawl. If you are not
careful in stepping into the banca, or if you are too
careful, you go into the water, and have to be fished
out. The banca combines many virtues.

It can be rowed like a shell, paddled like a canoe, and
poled like a canal boat. It can also be sailed like a cat-
boat. In each capacity it is extremely uncomfortable
and wearisome. It is undoubtedly a survival of the ship
of the prehistoric man, which consisted of a large log
hollowed out, and the most charitable desire on the part
of a Christian is that it may be buried with the aborigi-
nal gentleman who invented it.

You get into the banca in prayer and trembling, and
then sit there calmly doing nothing until the boatman,
the steamer steward, and the customs officials, and the
soldiers allow your baggage to be transferred from your
stateroom to your side. If you are shrewd you will give

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 25

every man a tip or you will give the captain of the
soldiers a large Mexican dollar. This investment saves
considerable time. With it your baggage is put on
board in about five minutes; without it the time varies
from a half-hour to a full hour. When everything is
on board, the banca pushes off, and moves leisurely to
the city. It passes into the river which flows between
walls of stone and is more truly a canal, and finally stops
at a landing, where it is made fast in due fashion. You
and your baggage alight, and you are again on terra
firma in the good city of Manila,

26 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER nL

IK MANILA.

Manila, strictly speaking, has three meanings. It is
the ancient walled city, which is the legal meaning. It
is the walled city and its suburbs, which is the popular
meaning, and it is also the province, district, or county*
of the Island of Luzon, where the city is situated. The
walled city lies on the southern bank of the Pasig Biver,
and is walled in a way that suggests the towns and cities
of the middle age. The walls are of gray stone lined
with brick or rubble, and have parapets, bastions, and
machicolations. They look picturesque and even impos-
ing. On the northern side the river serves as a moat,
and on the west the sea, or more properly speaking, the
bay. On the east and south there are well-made moats,
paved on the bottom and faced with stone on the out-
side, which can be filled with water in the event of
assault by an enemy. They are filled by large sluice-
ways, equipped with heavy gates which connect the east
moat with the river.

The last time they were employed was in the war with
Britain, when General Draper, with a strong naval and
military force, attacked and captured the city. These
fortifications were built three hundred and eight years
ago (1590) by General and Governor Gomez Perez Das-
marinas. They were built partly by forced labor, and
partly by coolies brought over from China. The walls

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 2?

altogether are about t'wo miles and a quarter long, and
from ten to twenty feet thick. All along the top are
ancient cannon, some dating from the latter part of
the fifteenth century, and others being breech-loaders of
the present period.

None of them are high-power guns, and none would
be of use against modern weapons, whether of warships
or of siege batteries. The masonry was good honest
work. It withstood the onset of war without showing
any particular damage, and what was a greater test of
its merit, the shocks of hundreds of earthquakes, large
and small. They left telltale marks of their enormous
force. That of 1880 threw down an arch in one of the
gates, and others fractured walls here and there, produc-
ing crevices which are utilized by mouse and rat, bat
and lizard, and occasionally by a snake. A large part of
the moats are in a revolting condition, being half-filled
with a hideous mixture of vegetable matter, stagnant
water covered with slime, mud, and the refuse of a large
city. It is known to produce fever and malarial diseases
and for that reason the Spaniards are afraid to clean it,
lest by disturbing the foul matter the evils are suddenly
increased.

While the fortifications are no protection in modern
warfare, they might be of use in the event of a riot, or
possibly of a rebellion. It would depend entirely upon
the arms possessed in such a case by the insurgents.
The mediaeval idea is still further carried by having a
garrison composed of Caucasians, half-breeds and Malays,
which guards the gates, patrols the walls, and keeps up
the make-believe of war.

It should not be forgotten that the Philippines have
never been thoroughly civilized by the Spaniards, and
that as late as 1849 piratical craft from Mindanao and

28 MANILA AND tHE PHILIPPINES.

Sulu came up to Mrithin a few miles of the city walls.
They afterward retired to their inaccessible harbors in
the south without particular molestation from the Span-
iards. Nearly all of the destruction of piracy in those
seas has been accomplished by British gunboats, which
may be said to have done more for the protection of
Manila than both its walls and fleets combined. Against
these freebooters of the sea these fortifications would be
always serviceable.

The walled city has eight gates, each one of which is
provided with a clumsy drawbridge. All of them were
provided with portcullises, but these are no longer used.
Up to 1852 the drawbridges were raised every night at
eleven, and lowered every morning at four. Inside the
walls are many government ofiSces, the branch post
office, telegraph office, the old custom house, some col-
leges, convents, a weather observatory, an arsenal, a cathe-
dral, and eleven churches. There are seventeen streets
crossing at right angles, and many shops and small
stores. In the past ten years there has been an attempt
to beautify both the city and suburbs by the establishing
of little parks and public gardens. On the other side of
the river is the island and district known as Binondo,
which is the great trading center of the city, and the
site of the foreign merchants and the Chinese quarter.

The streets are quite wide and well paved, and here
and there are the beginnings of attempts to construct
boulevards. Taken as a whole the district looks very
prosperous, but both neglected and unfinished. The ex-
port and import business is chiefly in the hands of the
British, the retail business is controlled by the Chinese.
There are twenty-four Chinese merchants of great wealth
and position, who receive the social and political recog-
nition denied to the average member of their race ix»

Manila and the Philippines. 39

Manila. Although Chinese labor is supposed to be dis-
countenanced, yet a large part of the hardest work in
the metropolis is done by that race. In every part of
both city and suburbs the commonest sight is that of
half-naked coolies carrying loads upon their heads and
shoulders, driving carts, and performing the most servile
work. They also control, but they do not monopolize,
such industries as boot and shoe making, furniture-mak-
ing, cabinet work, blacksmi thing, iron casting, metal
smithery, tin-working, tanning and dyeing. The
working classes live in a district of the city called
Tondo. It is well worth visiting ; but no one should go
there without taking a good dose of quinine, and spray-
ing the body and clothing with disinfectants. The
houses are hovels, packed close together, and alive with
human beings and animals, not to speak of vermin.
There are no sewers. The drainage, garbage, and silt
lie upon the ground, forming noisome pools or slowly
oozing into open ditches, always choked up, which are
found in every street and ally.

In this district the death rate is often two hundred to
the thousand, and here every year starts the epidemic
fever, which carries off tens of thousands. The other
suburbs are more rustic, cleaner and beautiful.

The land is low and the waters of the river and of the
sea form long arms, canals, ponds and lakes in endless
variety. This ^part of Manila has often been compared
to Venice, and might, if treated by capable landscape
gardeners and engineers, be made into an earthly para-
dise.

On the shore is a narrow park or driveway called the
Lunetta, where, every evening during the season, a fine
concert is given by a military band. Americans encoun-
ter a familiar spectacle in a horse-car line, which runs

30 Manila anh the Philippines.

through the city and fiuburba, and which terminated
near the station of a small railway connecting Binondo
with the pretty village of Malabon. In Manila every-
body has his own vehicle and horse. The vehicles are
a queer collection. The best consists of a small and
cheap victoria or barouche^ while the cheapest and poor«
est is a square box with a ladder at the end set upon
two wheels, without strings, and drawn by a dilapidated
horse. The rates charged for the use of the conve-
niences are very reasonable. For a good barouche and
team the tariff is about twenty-five cents for a short
trip, while for a little box cart it is ten cents if you
engage all the accommodation, and five cents if you are
one of a party of three or four. The drivers are very
polite, and also kind to their animals. They have an
odd habit of keeping up an extended conversation with
their horses, and prefer to direct them by voice rather
than by pressure upon the reins. The same thing is
done by the driver of the buffalo cart, so that a street
crowded with vehicles is quite a noisy assemblage.

There are many drug stores in both the city and the
suburbs. The largest and best is an enormous English
establishment run as a branch by a Hong Eong corpora-
tion. One or two are conducted by Germans, while the
rest are managed by natives, half-caste and Chinese.
Many years ago the apothecaries of the Philippines were
nearly all Germans; but the progress of education in
that part of the world introduced the study of pharmacy.
The opportunity was immediately embraced by half-
castes and Chinese, and these in the course of time drove
the Europeans out of business.

The poorest-paid German drug clerk usually receives
ten dollars a week, while the Chinese and half-breed
drug clerks are glad to work for that sum a month. On

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 31

acoount of the climate the busy hours are in the after-
noon and evening, when two or three clerks are neces-
sary, so that the difference in expense in clerk hire
alone would put the German establishment at a serious
disadvantage.

The people of Manila are not good patrons of the stage
and the opera. There is no theater in the city proper,
nor opera house, and there are but three places of amuse-
ment in the suburbs. At the Teatro Filipino, the build-
ing is largely an open framework so that the performance
can be seen from the yard or garden beyond it, and
partly from the street outside. At the Teatro del Prin-
cipe, there is a stock company which gives low comedy,
dialect entertainments, and rather dreary farces; while
the third house, the Teatro de Tondo, is situated in what
we would call the slums, and gives popular melodramas.
Now. and then the city is visited by dramatic companies,
the Italian opera, or a good concert organization, and
patronizes its visitors in a very handsome manner. The
most popular amusement is the American circus. No
matter what the manager or performers, every circus in
the far East is known as ''American," and in fact most of
them, as a matter of business enterprise, own the rights of
some American organization.

When these go to Manila they receive an almost royal
ovation, Europeans and natives alike flock to the per-
formances, of which two are given a day. Crowds of
country people will ride or walk in, sometimes taking
journeys of ten and fifteen miles to see the show. No
company plays a shorter term than three weeks, and
many play eight weeks. These visits are profitable, as
the board of man and beast is very cheap, the cost of
laborers small, and a band of Malay or Manila musicians
can be secured for twenty-five cents a performer a night.

3^ MANILA AND T«fi PtIlLlPPlNfig.

Barnum is not the first to charter a steamer and cross
the sea to give a circus performance in another land. It
has been done for twenty years in the far East, the ships
going from Hong Kong or Amoy to Manila.

There is a bull ring in the suburb of Paco, and here
the noble sport of torturing and killing bulls for human
amusement sinks down to its lowest depths. No self-
respecting Spanish toreador will come out to the Philip-
pines, so that the artists are ''native talent." In place
of the fierce Andalusian bulls which are bred for ring
purposes, they have the low-spirited and decepit animals
of the Philippines. European cattle do not thrive in
that part of the world, and although they manage to
exist, they are sorry specimens compared with the origi-
nal stock. Beside being small, poorly developed, and
timid they are also lazy and slow. The ring performers
take advantage of these peculiarities in order to win
cheap applause from the audience. The heroic toreador
frequentb* catches hold of the bull's tail and has the
affrighted animal pull him around the ring. An agile
bandillerist will vault over the bull in motion or will
dodge under him when at rest. The poor quadruped
seems in a daze and does his best to escape. The bipeds
chase him about the place, striking him with spear
points or with the butts of lances, pricking him with
various instruments, kicking him at times with their feet,
and after a disgusting entertainment of fifteen or twenty
minutes they murder the animal in cold blood. The
local aristocracy declines to patronize the institution
upon the ground of the inferiority of the sport, but the
Spanish lower classes, the half-breeds, and a few natives
attend the performances, partly to gratify their cruel
nature, and partly to imitate the example of their supe-
riors in Spain.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 33

If the bull-fighting is bad at Manila, the cock-fighting
is of the best quality. The Spaniards are monomaniacs
on the subject, and the natives have been trained to
imitate their masters. It is a source of revenue to the
Spanish government, which not alone taxes it but rents
out the tax to the highest bidder. In this way the gov-
ernment gets a nice income from the sport, and a shrewd
speculator is enabled to feather his financial nest.

There is a legal code of cock-fighting which is as well
known to the people as the code of civil procedure is to
a New York lawyer. Among the regulations is one
which confines the sport to Sundays and feast days.
Another regulation extends the time for Manila alone,
where Thursda3's are also set aside. Each place has the
official gallery or cockpit, and if the fighting is held any-
where else all participants are liable to arrest, fine and
imprisonment. The laws or rules of the pit are strict, and
are amended by the government every year or two, so as
to increase the interest or excitement in the sport. All
people are allowed to bet, but no one may bet more than
fifty dollars on one contest. A cock may wear one metal
spur, but not two. The spur, however, is made of the
best steel, and is ground and pointed until it may be
compared, in a small way, to a first-class bowie knife.
The fight is held to be terminated on the death of one or
both cocks, or when one of them turns and runs away.
The code on this subject contains no less than one hun-
dred specific sections. Wealthy men breed fighting-
cocks on a large scale, while poor enthusiasts will buy
the eggs and hatch and raise one or two for their own
benefit. The birds are very handsome, in fact, hand-
some than those of Spain or the United States. This is
due, according to connoisseurs, to crossing the breed with
the wild cock of the Philippines, which is the most beau-

S4 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

tiful, muscular, and agile member of the galliuaoeous
family.

The clergy are among the best patrons of the sport*
They are successful breeders skillful handlers, and regu-
lar bettors. The officers of the army and navy are good
patrons, but confine themselves chiefly to betting.
Wealthy men back their own entries at the fight, but
consider it undignified to handle or assist at the fight-
ing. The gallery is well patronized at all times. On
Thursday the place is well filled, but on Sundays and
feast days it is often crowded to suffocation.

There is much music, public and private, at Manila,
and some of it is of more than average quality. The
friars make music a part of the school curriculum and
also regard it as a means to a livelihood. There must
be several thousand natives and half-castes who have
been thoroughly educated in the use each of one or more
instruments, and after that as a member of a band or
ojrchestra. The Spanish army is provided with good
regimental bands, and each of the native regiments in
times of peace has a small band attached to it. The
commanding officers by picking the individual perform-
ers will often establish military bands which will com-
pare favorably with the more famous organizations of
the United States. Beside the public performances
there are private concerts, and also musical entertain-
ments given by staff officers, schools, churches, and other
institutions.

The Malays take kindly to martial music and display
enthusiasm over a brass band. On the other hand, they
do not seem to care for fine music, especially that which
requires stringed and wooden instruments. The Span-
iards have no very great love of it either. They are
crazy over dance music, popular operatic airs, and light|

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 36

and oomio opera, but manifest no interest in the higher
compositions. Nearly all concerts in Manila consist of
marches, overtures to famous operas, familiar arias writ-
ten for a full band, dances, popular songs, and war
music.

There is a good jockey club in the city, which holds a
race week every year, and does creditable work, consid-
ering the conditions of the place. The president is
usually a Spanish nobleman, while the working members
are Englishmen, Americans, and Spaniards who have
been educated in England. The club has a line track,
and by offering an extraordinary number of prizes, in-
cluding consolation rewards, makes it possible for young
men, who are well to do, but not wealthy, to become
patrons of the turf.

During the race week from fifty to one hundred and
fifty horses are entered in the various events. The rid-
ing is done by gentlemen jockeys, there being no profes-
sionals in the country. The best animals are Chinese
ponies, and next to them the Timor ponies. As the
animals are ver}'' small and the riders are usually well
built young men, the times made in the races are exceed-
ingly good. The strength of these little animals, their
endurance and vitality, are truly remarkable. The
pony will enter three races in one day carrying a man
weighing a hundred and thirty-five pounds, will run at
full speed the entire distance, and will be seemingly as
fresh and alert at the end of the last race as at the be-
ginning of the meeting. The races are popular, and
bring out the social world much more than do races
around New York City. In place of a grand stand, and
long boards, the practice in the Orient is to have a small,
handsome stand for officers of the club and invited
guests and numbers of private stands, each belonging to a

36 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

member. The Btaods are two stories high, the lower
one being used as a stablei and the upper, which is open
on three sides, as a place where the owner entertains his
friends. Lavish hospitality is shown during race week,
every stand owner keeping open house. The table is set
at the back part of the stand, and is supplied with cold
meats, salads, biscuit, cake, sweetmeats, coffee and tea,
and also champagne, vino tinto Bordeaux, brandy,
Scotch whisky, ale, beer, and soda. The festivities last
all day, both eating and drinking running on con-
tinuously.

Social pleasures are few and small, consisting chiefly
of formal visits, or an interchange of courtesies between
carriages. As for hotels, but little can be said in com-
pliment to Manila. There is only one hotel worthy of
the name, the Hotel de Oriental. It is very small meas-
ured by American standards, having only eighty-three
rooms for public service, and accommodations for
twenty-five horses. It is clean, neat, well ventilated,
and attractive. The service is first class, and the cook-
ing admirable. Beside the leading dishes of the French
cuisine it serves the national dishes of Spain so as to
captivate the most fastidious eater. Its chicken, chile
peppers and rice are a revelation to those who have
never eaten that ancient Barcelona dish. On occasions
it serves tamales larger than the Mexican article with a
filling made of game instead of chicken, as is the case
with the latter. Most notable of all, it dispenses a curry
equal to the finest productions of Bombay or Calcutta.
Its most popular curry is one made of camerones or large
prawns, and the side dishes served with it include the
Bombay duck, the Macassar red fish, fried breadfruit,
fried onions, granulated roast peanuts, Spanish anchovies,
grated young cocoanut, green and red chile ribbont.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 37

mango chutney, green chutney, English pickled wal«
nuts, English mustard pickles, and palm farina. It is
the most elaborate curry east of India, and is superior to
anything in either the United States or even in Europe
itself.

The punkahs, or huge broad fans suspended from the
ceiling, and swung with a rope by a coolie in an ad-
jacent corridor, are spotlessly clean, and very artistic in
design. The hotel f oral decorations are elaborate and
very sightly. The Hotel de Madrid in Intramuros, the
Hotel del Universa, and La Catalanta have good Spanish
cooking, bad rooms, and very inferior service. La
Esperanza Intramuros has the best cooking of all the
Spanish establishments, and the worst lodging accommo-
dations. There are others of which the reputation has
traveled far and wide. They are said to be inferior to
the vile inns of the Mongolian steppes where men,
camels, horses, pigs, and goats, sleep together in the
same room.

At some period in the past a governor-general with a
little more intelligence and less dishonesty than most of
his class started a botanical garden. It opened with a
flourish of trumpets and made a very attractive spot for
citizen and visitor alike, but the next governor-general
gave it no attention, and the poor garden has gone on
from bad to worse, until it is now a very mournful
spectacle.

The annual budget shows that it is provided
for by the authorities, and that several eminent gentle-
men of scientific accomplishments take care of it, and are
paid therefor by the state. They are never seen at the
garden, and according to popular rumor are to be found
at the colonial office in Madrid, where it is to be believed
they draw or diseonnt their salaries with official prompt-*

38 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

ness. A few policemen-soldiers are detailed to the
garden to prevent British travelers from running away
with the trees — and a handful of beggars monopolize the
prettiest spots in the place, where they whine and howl
for alms at the approach of every comer.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 29

CHAPTER IV. <

THE PEOPLE OF MANILA.

While Manila ooyers a large territory it is not as popu-
lous as other oities of the same size. It grows steadily,
and with a wise administration would be one of the first
oities of the far East, but it is already surpassed by Hong
Kong and Shanghai in population, and by both these
oities as well as by Yokohama, Nagasaki, Singapore, and
Batavia, in commerce, wealth, beauty, power, and civili-
zation. The Spaniards who come out there do so with
the intention of making a fortune, no matter by what
means, in as short a time as possible, and of then return-
ing to their native land. Thus the governing class is
forever changing, and the institutions in which, by
reason of their official position, they take a leading part,
have no opportunity of developing in legitimate manner.
The houses built by the government, or built at the gov-
ernment's expense, make fine residences and add a cer-
tain dignity to the place, but they are few in nuinber,
and do not accommodate more than a tenth of the transi-
tory office holders. These having no local interest ex-
cepting that of greed and rapacity, live the best they
can and make no improvements in the country of which
they ought to be the chief supporters and aids. Many
of the officials have a room or two, a little bungalow,
and live and eat in the Spanish club, or at the cheap
restaurants in the citadel or the suburbs. The «ame

40 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

thing applies to a large extent to the foreign merchants.
Even if they like the place well enough to remain^ the
attitude of the governing classes is such that each and
all are desirous of leaving the country at the earliest
moment. Nevertheless, these men have far more public
spirit than the ofiSoials. .

They build fine homes, create beautiful gardens, erect
substantial and even luxurious business establishments,
subscribe for improvements and co-operate in measures
for the public welfare. The Spaniards who live there
are very poor, and through either the climate or heredity
are slothful, unambitious, and unenergetic. The natives
are sufiSoiently industrious to earn a comfortable living,
but go no further for fear that they might be robbed by
the official classes. The busiest people there are the
Chinese and the Chinese half-breeds. These are always
working, no matter what the weather. They bring the
thrift and patience of Canton across the China Sea, and
although they are '"squeezed" and blackmailed, they gen-
erally manage to accumulate a competence. These
varying tendencies express themselves in the growth and
character of the population. A careful study of the
census indicates very clearly the direction in which
Manila is growing. The present population has, of
course, been diminished by the war with the United
States and the insurrection of Eizal and Aguinaldo.
It is estimated to be about three hundred thousand, of
which natives, chiefly Tagals, number two hundred thou-
sand, the Chinese, forty thousand ; and the Chinese half- '
breeds fifty thousand, the Spaniards, including officials
and Creoles, five thousand ; the Spanish half-breeds about
twelve thousand, and Europeans and Americans, about
four hundred.

The number of Spaniards is very little larger now tbaa

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 41

it was forty years ago. The number of foreigners is
about the same. The number of Chinese increases
slowly^ of natives more rapidly, and of both Spanish and
Chinese half-breeds more rapidly still. These half-breeds
tell an eloquent tale of the condition, both social and
political. The Chinese half-breeds are an evidence of
polygamy. A Chinese merchant usually has a Chinese
wife, and one or more native slaves, servants or wives,
the legal status being very vague. It is contrary to
Spanish law and has to be paid for accordingly. The
state of affairs, however, is not as bad as the statistics
seem to indicate. To the Chinaman these half-breed
children are generally as dear as those by his Chinese
wife. He educates them carefully, and brings them up
in his own business. They inherit from their mother
the qualities which fit them for the climate, and from the
Chinese side of the house the perseverance and indomi-
table will which mark that race. They become prosper-
ous merchants and wealthy men. The Spanish half-,
breeds on the other side represent a very different condi-
tion. They are usually the children of Spanish officers
and officials by native women, and are viewed with no
affection by their male parents, but, on the contrary,
with dislike and even aversion. The father goes home
to Spain after three or four years, making no provision
for the unfortunate offspring. These grow up with
no advantages, and with a stigma about them which is
bound to hold them down through life.

From this class the dangerous element of Manila is
largely recruited. Some of them, it must be confessed,
are remarkably handsome. They inherit the oval face
and regular features of the Spaniards, the magnificent
eyes, smooth velvety skin, and the supple grace of the
Malay. They have the courtesy of the one, the sweei*

42 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

ness and kindness of the other. The^* have a small moral
nature, and a weak will power. The men beoome gam-
blers and the women usually drift into the ranks of the
lost.

^ If things were left to themselves it is only a question
of time when Manila would become a Chinese city, and
it seems probable that under free access to the land the
Philippines themselves would in a hundred years be-
come a territory as thoroughly Chinese as Formosa itself. J

In regard to costumes the streets of Manila afford a
pleasant study for the traveler. The Spanish men dress
either in their national style or imitate their next door
neighbors the French. Even in the tropics they wear
at times, the unlovely stovepipe hat, the black frock
coat, and the black patent-leather shoes which seem to
have a perpetual fascination for many branches of the
liatin race. Some of them modify this costume with
comfortable results. The black cloth coat is replaced by
. one of silk, alpaca or mohair, the vest and trousers are
of white or yellow linen, and the shoes are of black or
white cloth and cut very low about the ankle. Some of
then dispense with the vest and display a spotless linen
shirt of the finest quality.

It may be said at this point that the Spanish linen
goods of Manila are equal to anything in the world.
They are made by old-fashioned methods and are a trifle
heavier than those worn by Americans, and they are also
three times as strong and durable. The half-breeds
usually follow either their Spanish parent or else take after
the foreigners. The foreign fashions are led by the Eng-
lish. The hat is a soft felt known as a terai, a light pith
helmet covered with white or gray cloth, and sometimes
a straw hat of either Manila or Panama.

The clothing is of white linen, white ootton, Japanese

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 43

orepe^ thin cloth. Nankin karkee, or seersuoker. The
cotton is the military sack buttoned close up to the neck.
Under it is worn a singlet, but no shirt or waistcoat.
The Chinese wear proudly the costumes of Canton. The
Chinese coolies wear a mere breech-cloth, or else a pair
of cotton overalls reaching to the knee. The Chinese
clerks wear dark blue blouses and light blue baggy
trousers, while the Chinese merchants wear handsome
robes of silk and satin, oftentimes richly embroidered.
Many of the half-breeds and the poorer Spaniards have
an odd trick of wearing the shirt over the trousers.
This funny practice is adopted likewise by many of the
natives, some of whom make it all the more ridiculous
by wearing over the shirt, which is of white linen or
yellow pina cloth, a dark colored short tailors' coat or
jacket. The soldiers who are Spaniard and half-castes
wear their uniforms.

Neither Spanish women, nor women of other nationali-
ties, are seen much on the street. Under Spanish
etiquette it is bad form for a woman to go out walking
alone, or with one of her own sex, and it is also bad form
for them to be escorted by any man excepting their
brother, husband, or father. When the}** do go out it is
in a vehicle of some sort. They then dress for the occa-
sion, and display good taste and a well-developed love of
color in their apparel. The Chinese women's servants
go about the streets with long coats of glazed brown, black
or blue cotton cloth, and trousers of the same material.
Chinese ladies are never seen in the streets, unless it be
in a half-closed carriage. They are then attired in silk
in all the colors of the rainbow. The native women
have all the Malay love of color. The skirt is usually in
two or more colors, the favorite tint being red, next to
that white, and next to that green. They do not wear

44 MANILA AND THE PMILIPl^INES.

corsets, but a low white chemisette and a neckcloth or
collarette, which meets the chemisette both at the front
and back. The chemisette is finished by two immense
baggy sleeyes, and the head is often covered with a
mantle or mantilla in thin material. They wear no
stockings, but slip their feet into a queer little slipper
which consists of a small, flat sole with a little band or
strap which goes across the foot. The peasant women come
into the city every day with fruits and vegetables, eggs,
and chickens, wear a short skirt which is covered in turn
by a serong, or long piece of goods wrapped around the
lower half of the body. The Yisaya women wear a
serong and a kind of wrapper starting at the shoulders,
and belted in at the waist. On holidays the native
women wear gaudy gowns of silk or i|atin when the
wearer is well-to-do, and of cotton or mixed goods when
they are poor. Spaniards and natives alike are passion-
ately fond of jewelry. They wear it upon all occasions
whether festive or mournful, and on the great church
holidays they wear every article of adornment which
they can attach to themselves. The intense activity of
northern cities is unknown to Manila. Everybody g'oes
slowly and takes his ease. Business is done leisurely.
Even the street peddlers sit motionless by the hour chat-
ting, smoking, or dozing. The only healthful activity
noticeable is that of the Englishman or American at one
extreme, and the Chinaman at the other. On account of
the climate, which is conducive to indolence, nearly every-
body who can afford the time takes a nap or siesta in the
middle of the day. The hours are not onerous in any
calling. Coffee and fruit are served in the early mom-
ins:. Breakfast is had about eight o'clock, tiffin, which is
a substantial luncheon with several hot dishes, is taken
about noon, and dinner is served at about eight at night.

MAKlLA AN£> THE PttlUt»PiNES. 48)

The theatersopen at half-past eight or nine. The influ-
ence of one race upon another is well illustrated in Manila
by the funerals. To one aooustomed to the silent de-
corum observed in northern lands, the Manila practice is
a queer combination of grewsome levity and bad taste.
In place of a hearse there is a hideous bier on wheels,
decorated with all sorts of cheap and tawdry ornaments.
The team which draws the affairs must be of white
horses, and the driver, a tall Malay, must wear black
cloth, and the highest variety of stove-pipe hat. In
front of the bier is a band of native musicians, whose
numbers depend upon the wealth or the generosity of the
bereaved family. They play dance music, the latest
songs, and the most popular airs from Europe, and never
anything solemn or serious. Behind the bier is a long
line of carriages, the longer the most fashionable, and in
the carriages everj^body is talking, smoking, and having
a good time. If it were not for the bier the procession
would be mistaken for a very jolly picnic part}*, and even
the bier itself with its ridiculous assortment of orna-
ments and decorations, and the driver with stovepipe
hat, solemn coat, trousers to the knee, and bare legs and
feet, present a spectacle at which the traveler must
smile.

46 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER V.

MANILA ABCHITECTUBE ESPECIALLY BOOFS.

A TBAYELEB arriving in Manila is impressed strongly^
and at first unconsciously, by the buildings. He sees
around bim a large, populous, and wealthy city, the evi-
dences of an extensive commerce, and everywhere the
resources which in all other lands produce palatial edi-
fices, grand churches, and noble public buildings. But
here it is all different. The only high buildings are the
churches, and these are built with monstrously thick
walls, strong enough to serve as fortifications. The
towers, instead of rising in straight lines, go up in a
series of steps ; the roofs are squat, heavy, and resemble
the roofs of factories where vast machinery is in motion,
and furnaces are ever pouring out fiame and smoke.
The few public buildings are heavy, gloomy and jail-like
in their exterior and interior. In the business quarter
the houses are two stories, with enormously thick walls
and partitions, and with beams and floors, cut with an
apparently spendthrift hand, out of the choicest woods.
In the suburbs are Malay bungalows supported on tiles
or stone foundations, one-storied, and covered with
thatch. In the Chinese quarter the buildings are chiefly
one-storied, and where fcwo-storied have the lower one as
solid as the everlasting hills, and the upper one light,
and seemingly fragile. Here and there are buildings in
which a wooden skeleton has been covered with huge

\

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 47

sheets of galvanized iron. At other places are edifices
which seem to be a cluster of cells^ such as might have
been a cloister for monks in long-gone years. Every- -^
thing is fiat^ horizontal^ squat, and heavy. Barring the
grace of the bungalow, there is nothing cheerful and
artistic in any direction.

The feeling of weight grows upon the visitor and
probably gives a tinge of melancholy to his thoughts.
It is not until a few days or weeks have passed by that
he realizes the meaning of this fiattened-out architec-
ture. The truth comes upon him suddenly, and then his
feelings are changed from dislike to admiration. This
architecture represents surrounding conditions. The
architect and the builder have tried time and again to
reproduce the beauty of European and Asiatic structures
in this land but have failed. They were fighting against
nature and nature was too strong for them. He who
desires to put up a house in that country must contend
against many terrible foes. There is first the heat of
the climate and its heavy rain. These forbid light and
flimsy construction. He must make preparation for the
typhoon, which in its might will shatter an ordinary
building like a house of cards. He must make allow-
ance for the earthquake, which comes and goes as regu-
larly as the revolving moon, and last of all he must fight
from the day he sets a beam until it crumbles a mass
of dust and sawdust the white ant, the worst plague of
civilized life in the far East.

Imagine for a second the strength and cruelty of these
conditions. A twenty-four inch brick wall is considered
extra strong for a two-story house in the United States,
but in earthquake and typhoon countries, it collapses im-
mediately. The average beam in American dwelling
houses is three inches thick. A pine beam of those

48 MANILA AND THE! l^HILIPt^lNfiS.

dimensions will be eaten through and through by whiid
ants in the tropics in a single year. A beam consisting
of the trunk af a tree fifteen inches in diameter may be
eaten through at one or more points within two years
by these voracious insects. It is therefore evident that
the less wood used the better for the safety of the
occupant. The people of those lands have tried every
conceivable experiment to overcome the white ants.
They have tried varnishing the woods, and painting them
with poisonous paints, but these seem to excite the ap-
petite of the insects. They have tried and compared
every kind of wood which can be used for building pur-
poses. There is not one but what may be attacked by
the ants.

The insects manifest preferences, however. They attack
pine, hemlock, chestnut, cherry, cedar, larch, and beech
with every seeming indication of delight, while, on the
other hand, they rarely approach ebony, teak, ironwood,
mahogany, and lignum-vitse. They like black walnut,
but are indifferent to bamboo. They like apple and ash,
but dislike oak-bark and pitch-pine. The people in
those countries, when they can afford it, use those
woods in their building operations which are the least
pleasing to the white ants.

Where a ceiling is employed, it is nearly always of
wood, and around it is a border of hatch-work. The
openings allow light and air to enter the space between
floor and ceiling, thus serving as an obstacle rather than
a preventive of the ants. At the present time many of
the roofs of city houses, and formerly nearly all, were
tiled. So many accidents occurred from the collapse of
a roof by the ants' eating out a beam or two that the
iron roof was introduced, and thereafter the roof of cor-
rugated and galvanized iron. This is proof against in^-

MANILA AND THK PHILIPPINES. 4ft

seots, and is also, when well-oonstruoted, an impregnable
defense against typhoons and tropical rainstorms. So
popular has this use of the metal become that many
business edifices, storehouses, and factories, are now
made of a framework of hard wood and iron, walled and
roofed with the corrugated metal. It is employed also
for the roofs of churches, and frequently for church tow-
ers and spires. Not much can be said in favor of it on
the score of beauty. The climate brings out rust in a
short time, so that the general effect is cheap, inartistic,
and dirty.

It is a good conductor of heat, so that the iron houseft
in summer are about as hot as the stoke room of an ocean
steamer. Iron stairs, banisters, balconies, railings, and
sills, are replacing wooden ones in Manila and a few of
the smaller cities. In many factories, business build-
ings and private residences, stone stairs and even stone
balustrades are not uncommon. The conditions men-
tioned render cellars dangerous and even deadly. There
are a few made of stone in Manila, but they are heir-
looms of antiquity. Neither tenant, buyer, nor builder
will have them. They will never come into vogue in
the islands until house materials are confined to iron,
steel, stone, brick, slate and terra-cotta. On account of
the white ants, brick and stone are used as far as ];>ossi-
ble in house building. The beams of floors, and espe-
cially of roofs, are thick and often massive. They are in-
spected regularly in ordei; to ascertain if the insects have
effected an entrance into the interior. The inspection
consists in examining the ends of each beam, and strik-
ing it at intervals along the surface with a light hammer
or mallet. If the ants have begun to consume the inte-
rior, the blow is followed by a hollow dead sound. The
beam is immediately replaced by a new one. To hftte

66 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

every facility, the avera^ice room is not ceiled, and more
curious still, the beams go through the walls, the ends
being flush with the exterior of the wall. In modern
constructions of the better class, iron and steel beams,
girders, and posts are employed, but the cases are rare
exceptions to the general practice.

The planks of the 'flooring are very thick and wide.
In the houses and offices of the prosperous, they are
made of teak, ironwood and other hard timbers. In a
few mansions they are of ebony and other precious woods,
and are cleaned and polished every day, producing a rich
and beautiful effect. As the floors age and shrink with
weathering, they are worn thinner, and knots and pieces
are loosened and fall to the floor below. At the United
States Consulate in Manila it was possible to look through
the door of one of the rooms and see people in the drive-
way beneath, while the main stairway was so perforated
by wear, tear, and knotholes that it resembled those
structures made of cast-iron lattice work used in front of
ofBoe buildings in New York.

The earthquakes and typhoons are reinforced in some
parts of the Philippines by volcanoes. No one builds in
those territories without taking these factors into her
oaloulation. Of the terrors, the earthquake is probably \\

the most formidable. That of 1627 obliterated one of
the highest mountains in the Archipelago. It fell in
with a roar which was heard for hundreds of miles. In
1675, an earthquake split in half a high mountain near 4

the coast of Mindanao. The crevice must have reached
far down into the interior of the earth, because the ocean
rushed in with such force as to inundate the country be-
yond over many square miles. Even in the present gen-
eration there have been several tremendous seismic dis-
turbanoea.

I

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 61

One began on September 16, 1852, and lasted for
twenty-six days, during which period over ten thousand
houses were shaken down. In 1863 was another power-
ful series of shocks which did great damage. In 1880
one-third of Manila was wrecked as if it had been bom-
barded by modern artillery. The visitor can obtain
good ideas of the enormous force of these convulsions of
the earth at many points in the more crowded portions
of the city. Not far from the river Fasig are the foun-
dation walls of a handsome church, which was utterly
ruined by an earthquake many years ago. It had been
built to withstand a very strong shock. The walls were
nearly ten feet thick, and were made of well-cut rock set
in the best mortar and cement, and yet the portion that
remains is marked and marred by crevices from an inch
to two feet in width, and the stones, many of them of
large size, which were split in half during the catastrophe,
not only are separated by a wide breach between the
halves, but the levels have been changed in many re-
spects by several inches. It must have been that during
the occurrence, the earth behaved more like a mass of
liquid than like a solid. At different points it exhibited
different kinds of motion. At one place it lifted every-
thing, at another it sank a foot or more downward; at a
third it slid laterally, and at a fourth it appeared to pro-
ject objects upon the surface obliquely upward. The
gloomy cathedral of Manila is said to have been much
handsomer originally than it is to-day. When first built
in 1578, it was on a par in size and beauty with many
cathedrals in Europe. It had a high roof and towers,
buttresses, and considerable ornamentation, but the first
earthquake that came along leveled it to the earth. It
was rebuilt with walls twice as thick, heavier and lower
towers, ftnd broader and stronger buttress^. Again

S3 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

the earthquake brought it a mass of fragments to the
ground. It has been rebuilt entirely four or five times,
and repaired thirty or forty.

It is a fine-looking building to-day, but it is more
massire and gloomy in its appearance than the immortal
temple of Luxor on the Nile. In the old walled city of
Manila there are many ancient buildings belonging to
both the government and the Church. Many of them
possess considerable architectural merit, especially when
allowance is made for their surrounding conditions.
Yet all of these are marked by the same heavy, stolid,
and dismal feeling. The walls are reinforced by oblique
buttresses, and in many cases are slightly oblique them-
selves. There is little external ornament, and none of
the class which can be dislodged by movements of the
earth's surface. The doors and windows are small;
many of the former have strong iron bars, and the latter
iron bars and gratings. All show the marks of neglect
and decay, and many of them bear the telltale marks of
ancient earthquakes. They impress a person in the
same way as the great ruined temples of Egypt, Italy,
and Greece.

The interior arrangement of the houses tends to follow
the example of houses in Spain. In the interior of the
house is an open quadrangle, or else there is a driveway
through the house with a small courtyard in the interior
or at the rear of the building, or the house sets back from
the street, from which it is secluded by a high wall.
These private houses are neat, and in view of all the cir-
cumstances, comfortable and attractive. The ground
floor is flush with the street or raised one, two or three
steps. Booms, halls, carriageway, and the little quad-
rangle in the interior, are usually well paved with blocks
of e(909 brought; strange to sa^; not Irom their own

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 63

quarries, but from far-away Amoy in China. Nearly
every steamer of the local lines brings^ as an important
part of its cargo, a thousand or more well-trimmed blocks
of granite, or paving stones from that ancient and in-
dustrious city. The stone walls are bare or covered with
whitewash. The thick surfaces of lath and plaster,
familiar to American eyes, are practically unknown out
here. The reason is very simple; the first earthquake
that came along, the smallest member of the earthquake
family, would shake it loose and down upon the floor.
Whitewash is just as clean, and involves no such danger.

Stone stairways with an iron balustrade leads up to
the second floor, which is scarcely any cosier or brighter
than the ground floor. Overhead is a tile or iron roof,
often doubled in order to have an air chamber between
the two roofs. Windows and doors are left open as
much as possible, and a good breeze, cool and refresh-
ing, prevails in the night and early morning, and often
throughout the day. The ground floor if it be gloomy,
is oomparatively cool and comfortable, although the land
is naturally low and marshy. Manila and Ho-IIo, and, in
fact, in most of the civilized settlements there is very
little malaria. This is probably due to the enormous
animal and vegetable life forever preying upon itself, the
liberal use of whitewash, the cleanly habits of the natives,
and the dry heat of the climate.

It is a common error that the Philippines are damp.
Many of the neighboring lands are noted for their rain-
fall, and the reputation has been extended to the Philip-
pines. Not far awa3' is Singapore, of which Sir Stamford
Baffles said: "It has two seasons, the dry and the wet.
In the former it rains every fifteen minutes; in the latter
ii rains all the time."

In the Philippines the rainfall is modarate, being
about one hundred wd twenty iaob^ a year; that at

54 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

Luzon averaging about ninety-five, and at Mindanao
about one hundred and thirty. When it does rain the
fall is very copious and rapid. It thus combines the
advantages of heavy rains ivhich clean the country, and
a moderate rainfall which does not permit of the decay
and decomposition found in Borneo and New Guinea.
With the exception of the few buildings noticed — the
cathedral, the governor-general's palace, the custom
house, one or two church colleges, some monasteries and
hospitals, there are practically no handsome buildings
in the Philippines. There are many which are very
comfortable and pleasant to the eye. Chief among these
are the bungalows, which are wooden houses with a
heavy thatch, and small European buildings, balf-oovered
with vines and flowers. It requires no exertion on the
part of an owner to make a home and house beautiful.
Nature will do it all for her. Mosses and moulds form
on every shaded wall and niche; vines and creepers
spring from the soil and climb over every f a9ade. Flow-
ers spring from the earth, and even from the walks in
the yard, and trees sprout everywhere, as if endeavoring
to bring back the wonderful forests which once covered
nine-tenths of the islands. This beautifying force of
nature makes the newer portion of the city and the
suburbs a spectacle which always affords profound
pleasure to the traveler's eye. Trees of every kind from
the statuesque palm to the marvelous banyan and artistic
bamboo, blazes and splashes of floral color at every place
expected and unexpected; the air full of birds and but-
terflies, each tree populated with a little colony of ani-
mals; the brownish-green color of the thatched roofs, the
moss-grown walls of the older houses; the level roads
where the grass and weeds forever fight the pedestrian
and the vehicle, all tend to make a picture of exquisite
beauty.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES 65

CHAPTER VI.

THE 8T0BES AND SHOPS.

In its retail stores, Manila offers an interesting combi-
nation of Spanish, Chinese, and native characteristics.
As the Spanish themselves imitate the French, the mix-
ture is all the more striking. There are attractive cafes
like those of Madrid, and restaurants which are like, but
still a long distance from, those of Paris; there are tailor
shops and shoe stores, shirt stores, and dry goods em-
poriums, which are almost copies of French and Spanish
originals. There are hundreds of Chinese stores which
are weak imitations of those in Hong Eong and Canton.

The curious system of taxation pursued by the Spanish
government bears so heavily upon trade that it does not
pay to employ enterprise, or to carry large stocks of
goods. The tax assessor regards goods and wares as in-
vested wealth, the same as paintings, bank accounts, and
gems. In fact, he prefers them for official purposes, be-
cause they cannot be concealed like the other things
mentioned. It makes no difference that goods may be,
and generally are, bought on credit; that the only interest
of the merchant is a small percentage of the value which
will pay the expenses of his transactions, and yield a
small profit — that is beyond the taxgather's intelligence.
The tax comes down like the rain upon the just and un-
just alike. The result of this system is that the mer-
chant carries as small a stock as is possible in his sales-

ft6 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

room and leaves the rest in a bonded warehouse. He
also makes as little display as he can, because all dis-
play means money, and all money is taxed. The condi-
tion is a profound surprise to American and English
women accustomed to the large establishments, the
numerous clerks and the wide assortment of goods which
mark the dry goods, millinery, boot and shoe trades of
the Western world.

The evil has its good side. If the stores carry small
stocks of ready-made goods they are eager and prompt
in making things to order. A man gets measured in his
t)wn room in the hotel for shirts and linen clothing, select-
ing the goods from a little book of samples. The tailor,
who may be a Chinaman, half-breed native or foreigner,
and scarcely ever a Spaniard, may have the goods at
home or in the storehouse. He gets them out, makes
them up in his own house, and delivers them with a
promptitude worthy of being followed by American
dealers. A woman has a similar experience. The dealer
brings samples, or, if necessary, large pieces of the goods,
for her to exercise a wise selection. Silks and pongees,
laces and linens, nets and cotton goods ; ribbons and
passementeries, each has its price fixed and the price of
the labor — very low, by the way — is given by the dealer.
She has her measure taken just about the same as in a
tailor-made garment store in the largest cities of the
United States.

The goods are brought to try on, and within a brief
period — ^not less than twenty-four hours — they are
returned finished. This system compels every woman to
exercise her own judgment, and produces a far greater
variety in costumes and styles than what obtains in most
civilized communities. It is very pleasantly visible on
opera nights, when all the women in good society are

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 67

■upposed to come and "show themselyes in dress parade."
The Spanish woman has a fine artistic taste« inheriting
the Spaniard's love of rich goods, the Moorish love for
color, and acquiring the French love for contrast and
decoration. In the audience there will be three hun-
dred costumes, all different, and each worthy of the seal
of approval by a fastidious critic. One costume will be
of a softly-tinted silk or satin, with bare arms, low neck
and back, with an over-garment from neck to wrist and
throat to slippers, of old Spanish lace and passementerie,
or net and bars of ribbons. Another striking costume is
an underwaist and skirt of golden grayish pongee and a
glove-fitting over-garment of black lace trimmed with
black velvet applique. Through the meshes the rich
olive skin of the wearer's arms and throat gleams out in
delightful contrast. A fourth delightful costume will
consist of a low, glove-fitting waist in bright satin, pink*
blue or light green, embroidered with gold or silver braid
and over it a lace and satin bolero, caught at the neck
with a single jewel, or fastened there with a light chain
of silver or of gold.

There will be stately duennas in black velvet, dark
maroon, olive, or the deepest blue rich materials. The
traveler who attends the opera in Manila expecting to
see people in queer or cheap attire is bound to be griev-
ously disappointed.

The jewelry stores in Manila are interesting and ex-
cellent. The Spanish artificer learned his trade from the
Moors, and like a true Bourbon has forgotten none of
its good qualities. He has taught the natives in turn,
and here, strange to say, the native women have sur-
passed the men in taste, creative power, and workman-
ship. In fact, the jewelry made by the Philippine women
is famous throughout tbd jBast for its e^^c^U^oe. Spao-

68 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

ards love a profusion of suoh ornaments as chatelaines,
watchchains^ neoklaoes, belts, bracelets and rings, and in
the making of these the native women exhibit wonderful
skill. They do not limit themselves to one or two types,
but display ever-changing novelty in each design. At
the jewelry stores it is possible to buy chains of which
each link is seemingly made of golden hair arranged in a
tiny coil and tied with a true lovers' knot, with the ends
so as to prevent its unraveling, or else with the seeming
hairs braided into an exquisite and flexible braid. The
little women do all this work, starting with the crude
gold from the mines of the country, making their own
alloys, drawing out the gold wire, beating it with ham-
mer and anvil, and using every process, even the most
scientific, known to the metal-smith. They set gems,
but here they confine themselves chiefly to Spanish
styles. The latter imbed the precious stones in metal
rather than raise them on frames so that the light can be
reflected and refracted at every facet and angle.

Silver is still popular as an ornamental metal, and for
such purposes as belts and heavy necklaces is as popular
as gold, and in some instances is preferred to the latter
metal. The women jewelers are also extremely skillful
in making hatpins, hairpins, stickpins, and breast-
pins. Here they follow nearly every school of ornament,
using Spanish, Italian, French, English, Chinese, and
Japanese models, and at times producing what are proba-
bly modifications of the ancient savage ornaments of
their own race. Of the latter may be mentioned pins
whose heads represent creeses, with pearl or mother-of-
pearl handles; and rubies, garnets, or red coral set in
the blade to give the impression of drops of blood.
Equally savage, but quite pretty, are jeweled and in-
orusted lizards, half an inch, or even an inch in lengthy

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 69

which are decorated with such a Tiew to chromatic con-
trast that the little figures seem irridescent in a strong
light.

The shops and stands where the natives sell different
kinds of basket-work are well worthy of visit and even
study. In their savage state they were very skillful in
preparing all sorts of vegetable fibers for braiding pur-
poses^ and made hats, mats, clothes baskets and household
utensils, which were of remarkable strength, durabil-
ity and finish. The Spanish occupation has been of con-
siderable benefit in this field. The Sisters of the various
Orders have taught their pupils the artistic designs of
Europe, as well as many secrets in d^^'eing, mottling, and
enameling straws and the other materials employed. The
Manila straw hats are famous even in New York and
London for their lightness and beauty. They are equal
to the finest Panamas, and the best qualities, which sel-
dom reach the market, command as high as fifteen and
twenty dollars gold apiece. The fiber employed in mak-
ing these hats is the outer skin of a family of rattans.
Only those canes are employed which are smooth,
healthy, and free from discoloration. They are washed,
dried, kept for a brief period in which they undergo
some sweating treatment, and then the outer skin is re-
moved with a sharp knife. It is softened with water
and cut into filaments, some as thick as a match and some
as thin as strong sewing thread. The mats made from
this material are about the best covering for a mattress
in warm weather that is known. The fibers are not cut
particularly small, ranging from a quarter of an inch to a
sixteenth. After they have been cut they are steeped in
strong dyes, the object being first to color the tissues,
second to make them stronger, and more durable, and
^ird and most important, to make them disagreeable to

id MANILA AND tbE 1>HILIPHNES.

all forms of insect life. The faTorite colors are black,
dark scarlet, dark green, and dark yellow, deep gray,
and olive. They are then woven into mats ranging
from two feet to seven feet square, the favorite size
being five feet square. When spread upon a bed they
permit the air to circulate through their interstices as
well as to allow any perspiration to escape in the same
manner.

Their fiber is a non-conductor of heat and electricity,
and possesses a hard polished surface, which is extremely
grateful and cooling to the skin in warm weather.
These bed mats are found in nearly every house, and are
carried about by travelers both rich and poor.

Wealthy people with artistic tastes use this handsome
matting to wainscot and to upholster rooms. It is also
employed upon lounges, sofas, chairs, hassocks, cush-
ions, and even pillows.

There are many bakeries and candy-makers, and their
products are inviting to the eye as well as to the palate.
Sugar is very cheap in the country, being made by
European methods, and various kinds of flour are obtaina-
ble from both European and Chinese merchants. The
Gastilians have a very sweet tooth, and use cakes, candies
and preserves more, probably, than any other people in
Europe. They show the same tastes in their Eastern
colonies. At every meal a standard dish is a paste or a
very hard and firm sweet fruit jelly, boiled down until it
is almost solid. It is made from guava, loquot, and other
fruits and is very good eating. Even it is the native
women who do the best work. They learned the indus-
try from the Spaniards, but have surpassed their teachers
in the purity, uniformity, and excellence of their goods.

There are a few art stores in Manila, but their wares
are apt to produce a smile on the part of a critic. There

MANILA AND tHfi I>HILIPPINES, 61

fire poor paintings from Europe, and still poorer copies
of these by Chinese and native artists. Poorest of all
are gaudy and hideous religious chromolithographs im-
ported from Europe and intended for the ignorant
whites and natives. The favorite is also one of the most
terrible. It is the picture of the Virgin with reddish,
yellow hair, a blue robe, long emaciated hands holding
in them a bleeding heart nearly as large as her head, and
from the heart are leaping tongues of yellow flame, and
little clouds of white and black smoke. The picture is
so ghastly as to be funny, but it appeals to the instinct
of many human beings, and so probably does its own
little work of good, no matter how unpleasant the impres-
sion it may produce upon the tourist's mind.

The restaurants of Manila are, as a class, not up to the
standards of other cities in that part of the world.
There are one or two patterned after the French which
may be recommended ; there are several in the Chinese
quarter which are models of cleanliness, neatness, and
good cooking; but the rest are cheap, none too clean, and
redolent of salt codfish, onions, garlic, poor oil, and
other reminders of the Celt-Iberian Peninsula. It must
be remembered that in Manila there are many poor
Spaniards. They are compelled to work like those
about them, and having no political influence they are
unable to get even one of the poorly-paid clerkships in
the government offices. They are obliged to compete
with half-castes, half-educated natives, and with young
Chinamen ambitious to learn the principles of European
commerce. In such a competition wages sink to the
lowest Asiatic levels, and hundreds of clerks, Spanish,
half-breeds and natives — alike work for less than what
is paid to an office boy in the United States. Clerks can
be secured for twelve and ten dollars a month, and even

62 MANILA AND THE PHlLl!»PlNES.

Dine and eight. Upon this they manage somehow to
support themselves and families. Their daily fare is of
the simplest kind^ consisting of much rice, a little pork,
a little fresh and salted fish, a fair amount of onions and
garlic, and a large amount of cabbage, yam, and ]^other
cheap vegetables.

These are the patrons of the cheap restaurants, at some
of which the meal, such as it is, can be secured for five
cents.

The fans of the bazaars deserve passing notice. Every-
body uses that handy little article and the supply is
large, cheap, and varied. The ordinary palm leaf costs
but a fraction of a cent. The woven palms made by the
Tagal women are a trifie more costly, ranging from one
to five cents apiece, but are light, pretty, and durable.
They are related apparently, to the fans of Siam and the
Malay states. There are handsome fans from Madrid
made of ivory, bone, lancewood, ebony, teak, and sandal
wood, trimmed with silk, or laces and often ornamented
with paintings, beads, spangles, and even jewels. These
are as expensive in Manila as they are in America. Both
natives and Chinese imitate the imported Spanish fans,
and do their work so well that none but an expert can
distinguish the difference. There are also rich fans from
Canton in which ivory plain and carved is decorated
with the tips of peacock feathers, or with quills dyed
into a thousand flaming hues. There are very neat fans
made with sandal-wood handles and eagle plumes, and
the plumage of other birds. These seem very fragile,
but in reality are more durable than the palm leaves. A
pretty fan, half Spanish and half Malay, is manufactured
of silk stretched upon an elastic wooden frame fastened to
a handle, the silk being decorated with seed pearls,
silver and gold spangles, and sometimes embroidery ia
ooloni, silver and gold.

MANILA AND THE tHlLlPHNfiS. 63

llhere are almost no book stores in Manila. There are
said to be two in the business district, and these carry a
stock of a few cheap novels in French and Spanish, and
a small assortment of prayer books and religious works.
All the foreigners and the well-to-do Spaniards import
what reading matter they use. In the case of the Span-
iards it does not seem to be a very large quantity.

The hot climate renders parasols and umbrellas a nec-
essity as well as a luxury. Every man and woman owns
at least a couple of umbrellas, and every woman an
assortment of parasols. A few are imported from France
and England, but the larger quantity are made by native
artificers. Economy is relished in Manila more, per-
haps, than in the big cifcies of the world. Both parasols
and umbrellas when shabby or injured are promptly re-
paired or recovered, and thus do duty for a long time.
The cheapness of both labor and silk renders these re-
pairs inexpensive, so that even the working classes are
frequently the owners of umbrellas that in the United
States would cost several dollars apiece. The china and
earthern market is supplied from many sources.

The well-to-do import their table ware from England,
France, and Germany, and also patronize Chinese and
Japanese goods. The middle classes use cheap Chinese
articles, while the poorer classes employ the earthenware
and pottery made by natives and half-breeds. This is
well made, and some of it is notably neat and attractive.
All of it is strong and very cheap. There is an abundant
supply of good clay on the islands, and an inexhaustible
amount of fuel wood, and lignite or brown coal. These
enable the native potters to turn out cheap clay cooking
and eating utensils in any desired amount. The most
useful of these products are the ''monkeys" or water
jars. These are unglazed earthenware bottles with a very

64 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES,

large body« a broad neck and a olay stopper. They am
usually plain, but a few are decorated with line work
and geometrical figures. When filled with water they
are placed on the window sill or a table in the line of a
draught. The water percolates very slowly through the
earthenware forming a light perspiration on the surface.
This is evaporated by the draught, absorbing heat from
the monkey and its contents and thus cooling the water
several degrees below the temperatiure of the surround-
ing air.

It was the only cool water that was had in Manila
until American ships brought out cargoes of ice, and
afterward an enterprising capitalist established ice*
making machinery in that city.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES, 65

CHAPTER Vn.

IfANILA's DAILT BBEAD — TOBAOOO.

Just as the stockyards of Chicago are the first attrao-
tiono \ehich is offered to the stranger within itsgates^ so
the cigar factories of Manila are regarded by its citizens
high and low. The view is justified by the facts. The
tobacco industry is the chief source of revenue to both
state, church politicians, and merchants. To the
state it brings in at least eight million dollars a year; to
the church about two million, to politicians a million,
and to merchants about two millions. It gives employ-
ment to several hundred thousand people, starting with
the field laborers on the tobacco plantations to the opera-
tives in the factories, and the makers of cigar ribbons,
cigar box labels, and other trade supplies. While there
is a native tobacco which grows in the Philippines it is
never used for commercial purposes. It belongs to the
same family as the Chinese and Japanese leaf, which is so
harsh and penetrating as to be exceedingly offensive to
European nostrils. The famous Manila tobacco is a de-
scendant of plants taken from Mexico by missionaries in
the latter part of the seventeenth century. The plants
thrived remarkably in their new home, and in a few
years grew numerous enough to make several large plan-
tations. In 1686 the navigator Dampier found its cul-
tivation carried on upon a large scale, and great multi-
tudes of natives passionately addicted to the weed. At

66 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES,

that time it was a rarity in Europe, and it had not yet
been selected by financiers as a leading support for gov-
ernmental treasuries. The Spaniards, strange to say, did
not realize the opportunity in this respect until 1781,
when by a royal decree the entire tobacco business was
made a state monopoly. This lasted until 1882, during
which time the government paid little or no attention to
the scientific culture of the plant. Its uniform excel-
lence during that long period is convincing evidence of
the richness of the Philippine soil. During all this time
the Spanish government paid no attention to anything
but the raising of as large an income as was possible. By
one expedient after another, by laws of remarkable
cruelty, they succeeded in raising the revenue from about
two millions in 1840 to about five millions in 1859, and
to about eight millions in 1870. The story of this legis-
lation and political work will probably never be known
in full; but the fragments which may be found in
Spanish official publications reveal a system of tyranny,
injustice, and inhumanity, so terrible as to be almost in«
credible. In 1846, for example, the natives in Mindoro
refused to bring in their crops, because they had not
been paid for two years.

Soldiers were sent into the tobacco district, and the
ringleaders of the disaffection were shot. Others were
flogged, imprisoned, and otherwise maltreated, partly to
punish them for their contumely, and partly to frighten
them in'to complying with the government's wishes.
This was the straw which broke the camel's back. The
natives set fire to their plantations, and ran away to the
mountains, and the tobacco industry of Mindoro was
practically annihilated. Laws were passed authorizing
compulsory labor, and the natives in the northern prov-
inces of Luzon were compelled to plant tobacco where

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 67

before they planted maize and rice. All refusing to
obey the commands were treaded as malefactors and
punished according to the enormity of their disobedi-
ence, and the dicretions of the military officer of the
district. The poor creatures planted the tobacco so as
to comply with the law, but then spent most of their
time in making small clearings elsewhere, and raising
food for their families. This pitiful attempt at self-sus-
tenance was promptly met by the authorities with an-
other law. Ever3^ family was compelled to raise at least
four thousand plants per annum under a penalty of fine>
dispossession, imprisonment, or all. This not bringing
enough yield, another law was passed whereby any land
not cultivated in tobacco was appropriated by the gOT-
ernment, and given to any appointee upon condition that
he would devote it to the precious leaf.

When under the pressure of this frightful tyranny
and of actual starvation the natives left their farms and
went into the fastnesses of the interior, the government
sent colonies from the middle islands of the archi-
pelago up to the deserted fields, and there put them to
work with a company of soldiers within a day's march-
ing distance. When it was found that some philan-
thropic Spaniards had helped the disobedient planters,
an ancient law was revived whereby a native could not
be held responsible for a debt exceeding five dollars; and
all emigrants, colonists and tobacco farmers were per-
mitted to liquidate them out of their earnings at tobacco
planting. There appears to be no connection between
these two things, but nearly all the Spaniards who did
these things were creditors of the natives, advancing to
them moneys for their support and that of their families
to be repaid when the tobacco was sent in. The new
laws enabled every dishonest native to evade his debts.

68 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

and gaye the officials the power to out down his goyem-
ment credits, so that the outside creditor would be un-
able to receiye anything upon the debt. There is a cer-
tain diabolic ingenuity about this which is worthy of the
Sublime Porte.

In 1880 the condition of affairs had grown so bad that
eyen the Spanish landowners began to protest. If a
landowner, for example, dared to smoke a leaf of tobacco
growing on his own land, cultiyated by his own hand, at
any place excepting inside the tobacco shed he was liable
to arrest, and a fine with costs of seyen dollars and
thirtyHieyen cents for one cigar, and one dollar and
eighty-seyen cents for a cigarette. When it is remem-
bered that a cigar in the Philippines costs about one
cent in our money, and a cigarette one mill, the seyerity
of the fine can be imagined, and yet in one proyince
alone the annual ayerage of fines for this kind of offense
rose from the passage of the law up to seyen thousand
dollars. Another law gaye the officials the right of
domiciliary search. The officers were allowed to enter a
house at any time from sunrise to sunset to examine eyery
part of the building, and the furniture, including trunks,
boxes, barrels, and bales, and to strip men, women and
children, and examine their clothing after it had been
remoyed. In more than one thousand cases justly indig-
nant husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons, attacked the
officers of the law for their indecent treatment of the
women of the household and killed them. In oyer one
thousand cases they wounded the officials, but all those
who displayed true manhood in this way were hunted
down and shot as wild beasts.

Finally the goyemment began to pay treasury notes
instead of money for the tobacco, and staryation threat-
ened the poor planters throughout the islands. In

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 69

1883 the monopoly was at last abolished by law, and
against the protests of many of the leading statesmen of
Madrid. It was not the orueltj^ and inhumanity which
caused the abolition of the system, but the certainty that
the vast scheme would collapse and bring nothing to the
state. Since that time the tobacco industry of the
Philippines has prospered, using the term in a relative
sense.

The annual output has grown from year to year, and
there has been some attempt made to improve the quality
of the leaf. The exports the first year, 1883, were one
hundred and ninety millions of cigars, and seven thou-
sand tons of leaf tobacco, while in 1895, the last year of
which there is any published record accessible, the
cigars had leaped to two hundred millions, and the
tobacco to fifteen thousand tons. At the present time
the business is conducted without any interference on
the part of the government. The Spanish law tends to
favor its own citizens at the expense of foreigners, and
the largest establishment is a huge corporation styled
The General Oompany of Tobaccos of the Philippines.
There are a number of Chinese manufacturers who do a
very excellent business, and many smaller ^Spanish and
native houses. Strange as it may seem to the govern-
ment at home, the royal treasury at Madrid receives far
more money under the present system than it did in the
oruelest days of the monopoly. The tobacco factories in
Manila range from small shops to establishments employ-
ing hundreds, and even thousands of operatives. They
are large, roomy buildings, well ventilated, and kept
clean and well sanitated. The trade itself is healthful,
emanations of the leaf being very distasteful to all forms
of insect life, and acting as a germicide of some efiS-
oiency. The operatives are mainly girls and women.

70 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

mostly half-castes and natives. They are industrious,
well-behaved, neat in their appearance, and as a class
attractive. They compare favorably with the cigarette
girls of the eastern cities, and like them are fond of
light social recreation when their work is done.

In the same factory all branches of work are carried
on. In one section cheroots are produced, in another
cigars, in a third, rolls similar to American stogies, in a
fourth folded cigarettes, in a fifth pasted cigarettes, in
a sixth picadura, or short-cut smoking tobacco, and in a
seventh prepared leaf for exportation. There is also a
box-making department where improved American
machinery turns out cigar boxes, in a never ending
stream, a paste board box division, a packing box de-
partment, and a printing department for labels and
wrappers.

Everybody smokes in the islands, native and foreign,
man, woman and child. The market-woman whiffs her
cigarette and the Tagal grandmother may be seen draw-
ing upon a huge cheroot. The tobacco is milder and
not so well flavored as the Guban. It comes close to the
Mexican leaf from which it is descended, but according
to experts is a trifle better than the latter. Under good
local government the industry would quickly double and
treble its present proportions. The fields are not prop-
erly cultivated owing to the lack of efficient imple-
ments.

The greater burden upon it is the absence of not only
railroads, but of even decent thoroughfares. While
there are many good roads on Luzon they only serve to
make the other and more numerous ones look worse by
comparison. Qood roads running through the tobacco
district, and, better still, well-managed railways, would
open up splendid districts now unavailable, and reduce

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 71

the expense of transportation to a quarter, and even less,
of what it now is.

For some mysterious reason the United States has not
thus far been a good customer of the Philippine tobacco
industry We take enormous quantities of sugar and
hemp, but of their cigars, cigarettes and tobacco, we
took according to last advices, only about five thousand
dollars' worth in a year, not so much as any one of the
leading European nations, China, Japan, India, Egj'pt,
Australia, or even New Zealand. The only explanation
which can be offered is that the American palate has
been spoiled by the Yuelta Aba jo leaf of Cuba, and the
golden leaf of Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky.

i

72 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER VUL

ABOUin) LUZON.

The absence of proper railway facilities is not a great
drawback in the Philippines, the wonderful ooasi-line
enables the traveler to do her journeying in a much more
pleasant fashion by water. There are little light-
draught steamboats which go almost everywhere, and
which charge very low fares and upon every navigable
steam, lake, and bay, are bancas, canoes and other boats
which can be hired for an insignificant sum. Thus to
reach the northern part of Luzon, you take a broad-
bowed and fat-bellied steamboat which looks for all the
world like the hull of an American ferryboat fitted with
the upper works of an English channel steamer. It goes
from port to port, stopping apparently at any place where
it can pick up a passenger, or a piece of freight. It
goes as far as San Fernando, which is not far from Cape
Bojeador, where it lands at a wooden pier similar to the
dilapidated wharves that are found at decaying towns on
the Long Island Sound.

There is no hotel at the place, not even an inn of the
lowest type, the people, however, are hospitable here as
they are throughout the country. It should be said to
the credit of the Spaniard that he is always hospitable
as well as always courteous. This hospitality does not
mean generosity, because he expects the same hospitality
when he goes to any other town. Thus, in the course of

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 73

a year, the number of people be bas entertained is just
about the same as the number of times be bas been
entertained.

From here the favorite route for the tourist is to the
little town of La Trinidad. The country is mountainous
and picturesque. In its general appearance it suggests
the Gatskills^ although the mountains probably average a
little higher. The official surveys give a few summits at
four thousand feet and a great man}' at three thousand.
The valleys are sharp and well defined, and even in the
dry season there are numberless waterfalls of extraordi-
nary beauty. Vegetable growth is more than luxuriant,
and prevents a passenger from riding out of the road or
beaten path even if she so desires.

There is very little danger to the traveler in this part
of Luzon. The natives are docile, and seldom run
amuck or join the oath-bound organization known as the
juramentada. There are no wild beasts worthy of men-
tion, the only animals from whom aught can be feared
being the crocodile and the anaconda. The former is
large and ferocious, but seldom goes out of his lair to
attack human beings, having learned in all probability an
unconscious respect for the two-legged animal which
carries a long and noisy metal tube The anaconda is a
crafty reptile, and when very hungry will attack man
as well as beast. It grows to enormous size in th«
Philippines, one captured by the Ann Arbor expedition
a few years ago being thirty feet long and more than a
foot in diameter. Another one which was killed in the
sixties is still seen in the form of a well-tanned hide
in Manila. A part of the tail has been lost, and pieces
of the skin have been cut or torn away, but even as it
remains it is twenty-three feet long, and forty-eight
inches wide at the widest point, indicating a diameter of
about fifteen inches.

74 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

These monsters have a mode of attack whioh^ so far as
is known, is not employed by the snakes of North
America. They constrict like all snakes of their family,
but in addition they also strike a blow, using the head
and neck as a projectile, with four or five feet of the body
as the impelling instrument. The blow is extremely
rapid, and as the part employed will weigh from fifty to
a hundred pounds the shock is so great as to knock
down, and even render unconscious, a man, deer, horse,
or even young buffalo.

The attack is followed up instantly, and before the
luckless victim regains consciousness all life has been
crushed out by the folds of the great serpent.

In traveling, the athlete can walk, but is bound to
have his shoes out by the sharp angles and edges of the
broken volcanic rock which crops out every here and
there in the roadway. The favorite mode of locomotion
is on the back of a Philippine pony. This pretty little
animal suggests the Shetland of Great Britain. It is
very small, patient, affectionate, sure-footed, and intelli-
gent. Though the climate is very warm it is quite
shaggy, and from the rocky environment it is almost as
sure-footed as the mountain goat. They look too small
for a person to ride, and yet, by the wisdom of nature
they are so adapted to their country, that they will out-
last an imported horse of twice their size and seemingly
ten times their strength. A tall man can only ride them
by bending his knees, otherwise his feet would be on
the ground all the time. The natives, who are like most
orientals, kind to their brute creatures, ride the ponies
on the level and going uphill. In going downhill they
invariably alight and walk.

This is due as much to caution as to regard for the
animal. The Philippine pony in going down a rocky

MANILA AND THE PHlLIPl^INES. W

hill puts its head down quite close to the round as if to
examine the texture of the soil and rock. The angle
made is sharper than the angle of the hill, and nine
riders out of ten signalize the event by shooting precipi-
tately over the pony's head. The harness is quite
unique. The saddle is a modified Spanish saddle with
less wood and leather than those employed in our South-
west. Everything else is made of Manila twine, or
Manila native-made rope — the stirrup straps, belly-band,
bridle, and even the extra girth, are made of hemp
twisted or braided into a cord scarcely a quarter of an
inch in diameter. Some of the more prosperous natives
have straps made by braiding or weaving the twine or
by fastening together four, five, or six cords so as to
lie parallel in a flat surface. When well made this har-
ness is strong and serviceable. It is also cooler and
pleasanter for the animal than heavy straps of leather ;
but most of it is not well made, and much of that which
is well made is so worn as to be frayed, and at places
half rubbed through. Where your harness is of the
latter variety it breaks with extraordinary regularity,
and you spend considerable time in getting off tying the
ends together in hard knots, readjusting the strap and
getting on again.

The land under cultivation in this district belongs to
the church, rich landed proprietors, or to nobles and
politicians at Madrid. It is kept in good condition, the
fields being well plowed and finely cultivated, and each
field being walled in as it were by a low embankment of
sod and clay from one to two feet in thickness.

These walls serve as boundaries, and also as dams for
retaining the rainwater which falls and that which
trickles from fields lying upon higher levels. The farm-
ers are almost as careful as those of China, where every

76 MANILA AND THfi PHILIPPINES.

drop of water is utilized to the utmost. The fields are
very productive, giving noble crops of rice, tobacco, and
other vegetable growths, and where, when set aside for
poultry raising, or grazing, support the animal charges
with great ease.

Everything produced belongs to the landlord, and the
peasants who raise them are allowed a daily stipend of
rice, one pair of trousers a year for a man, and one skirt,
and one scarf per year for the woman. Every day the
buffalo carts pass you, carrying huge loads of rice, to-
bacco, and grain, or fresh vegetables, or herds of
tuffaloes, cattle, and ponies, but all goes to distant cities,
or ports for the benefit of absentee landlords, and almost
nothing remains for the wretched people who have pro-
duced them.

These people are too poor to use meat of any sort,
poultry, or even eggs. For animal food they depend
upon the fish in the sea, and upon the buffalo milk, which
their white employers look down upon with disgust.
And yet, despite their poverty and degradation, they are
extremely polite, and as you pass, the men raise their
hats, and the women courtesy with all the grace of the
Spanish grandee from whom they have learned their
manners. The carts, not only here, but all through the
Philippines, are very funny. They are strong, heavy,
and clumsy, and their wheels are solid circles or disks
of hard wood, ranging from two to six inches in width.
They squeak as they move, and make a discord so un-
earthly that in clear, calm weather, they can be heard
several miles. The carts are drawn by the Philippine
buffaloes which seem a connecting link between a cow
and an elephant. They have a livid pink skin, spattered
with huge bristles, wide spreading and powerful homs^
and a body that seems fully a yard in diameter.

Manila and the i>hilippines. W

As yoa progress further south you encounter the coral
formation. It is met with on low levels, seldom more
than twenty feet above the level of the sea. Ages of
weathering have compacted it so that it makes very good
building material. It is used as a foundation for the
bouses of the well to do, of public buildings and of
churches, but the labor expended upon it is too valuable,
although it amounts to but a few cents a day, for the
coral rock to be used by the comon people.

Through this part of Luzon an observant traveler will
be surprised at the decay of the church. Nearly every
building used for church purposes is more or less dilapi-
dated, and many are half ruined. In the handsomer
ones there are still evidences of great wealth ; but these
on examination prove to be of the last century, and not
of the present one. The reason of the decay is not far to
see. When the church began its work the land belonged
largely to the natives, who were prosperous and free
handed with their gains. They gave liberally to the
church, and in many instance built edifices which would
be a credit to any country, but the industrial political
system undermined all this prosperity. The lands
passed from the natives to the church and to private
owners, to officials, and finally to nobles in Madrid, and
to bankers and usurers in both that capital and Paris.

The former owners became peasants, and year after
year their lot became harder and harder. As they grew
poorer their contributions necessarily ceased, and the
church itself disposed of many of its estates to private
citizens. So it went on, from bad to worse, until to-day
the lot of the peasant in the Philippines is much worse
than that of the coolie in the poorest district of the
Province of Canton in Ohina.

When a man has only one pair of trousers a year^ and

78 Manila and tME fniLifpiNES.

like to appear neat and attractive on high days and holi-
days^ he is very apt to put that pair aside when he is at
work. This is what occurs throughout the Philippines.
Hundreds of thousands go about perfectly naked^ and an
equally large« and perhaps larger number, wear the small-
est possible breech cloth/ held in position by a rope tied
round the waist, serving both as a garment and a pocket.
To a visitor from a western civilization there is no more
striking spectacle than a group or caravan of carriers in
the mountainous districts of Luzon. The first man,
usually the head man, wears a loin cloth and a home-
made straw hat about the size and shape of an archery
target. Behind him comes a long line of naked, bronze
human beings, each with a bamboo frame on his back,
fastened to his body by narrow shoulder straps, and a
broad band of either leather or Manila rope around the
forehead. Nearly all the weight is thrown upon the
forehead, a mode of carrying entirely unknown to Eng-
land or America. In this district the roads exist only
in name. They are hardly bridle paths. Many of them
are what in western vernacular would be termed
"blazes."

This northern district of Luzon deserves thorough ex-
ploitation by competent specialists. It is up here, not
far from La Trinidad, that they have found a large out-
crop of gold-bearing quartz, which is worked by the
natives in the most primitive style possible. They break
off a piece of the quartz comminute it upon a rock with a
round piece of the same material, and then grind it to a
powder sweeping this into a basin of water, and there
washing away the particles of stone until nothing is left
in the bottom, but a few grains of gold. Some of the
more intelligent natives heat the quartz rock in a bonfire
and throw it, when red hot, into a pail of water. The

Manila and the Philippines. 79

rook behaves as glass does under the same circumstances^
crackling and crumbling into a mass of brittle and fria-
ble fragments. Working this way a man and his wife
can make a dollar's worth of gold a week which they
sell to the Spanish speculators, at one-half of its real
value. But fifty cents a week makes a very good living
for a man in that part of the world. He can have two
pair of trousers a year, and his wife can have two skirts.
The gold country is situated between Kapouga and La
Trinidad, and the main ledge, what would be termed the
mother lode, has been traced o£E and on for ten miles.
There is also placer gold, but the only ones who have
ever worked it with any profit have been Chinese miners
who had received their training in California. Neither
the natives, nor the Spaniards have ever attempted the
task upon a large scale, or have made a sufficient profit
upon a small one. Near Kapouga there is another for-
mation of quartz carrying silver-bearing lead. It has
been used for the production of the latter metal, but the
difficulty in transportation has been too great an obstacle
for the energj* and enterprise of the inhabitants. For
the benefit of miners it may be added that there is an
unlimited supply of fresh water, with a fall sufficient to
run a thousand turbines. There is an inexhaustible
amount of wood, of the toughest and strongest kind,
suitable for timbering mines and for supplying fuel.
The mining country is on very high land, ranging from
three to six thousand feet above the level of the sea. It
is free from malaria, and provides excellent shooting and
fishing for those who care for sport, or who like to im-
prove the ordinary food supply of the district. The
province is also interesting in respect to its population.
This is very much mixed. The most prominent, if not
the most numerous type, are the mountain IndianSi oi^

80 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPlNfiS.

mountain Malay a, who are tall, dark, muscular men,
averaging about five feet four, and some reaching as
high as five feet eight inches. They are active, ener-
getic, but are said to be untruthful and dishonest.
Those on the coast and in the lowlands are much
smaller, averaging about five feet in height^ of thinner
build, and smaller muscular development. They are not
very strong, but are very lazy. They work half-heart-
edly, and get tired quickly. They are good natured,
taking nothing seriously. They make poor workingmen,
but, on the other hand, they are said to be singularly
affectionate, loyal, truthful, and honest. A third type
is a brown race, known as the Garoti. These are be-
lieved to have been the race that immediately succeeded
the original negroid stock, and preceded the Malay stock.
They resemble the Papuans, and preserve, even to-day
many, if not most, of their savage rites, ceremonies, and
superstitions. Both men and women are tattooed, the
men decorating the arms and hands, and the women the
upper arm, shoulders, and neck. They have queer musi-
cal instruments, consisting of copper gongs which are
struck with small sticks, and wooden drums with snake
skin heads three feet long, but only five or six inches in
diameter.

This odd affair gives a double note when struck.
There is first the tang of the skin, sharp and short, and
then a mufSed roar from the wooden body, which serves
partly as a sounding board, and partly as a generator of
sound. The men are rather well built, and the young
women are very attractive and exquisitely shapely.
From the age of thirteen to about twenty their forms
will compare favorable with classic models. Then they
age rapidly and soon become wrinkled and unattractive.
At stated seasons of the year they hold feasts, whoso

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 8l

exact object and nature they conceal, or else which the
Spaniards do not understand. These festivals last two,
and even three days, continuously. No one is supposed
to sleep, but is in duty bound to keep up the programme
of eating, drinking, smoking, dancing, and singing.

The feast is opened by killing and cooking a young
buffalo, several pigs, and a score of chickens. These are
served with boiled rice, and a little salt, and are washed
down with a weak fermented liquor that is supposed to
be a rice beer, flavored with barks and fruit. It has not
been anaylzed, but cannot contain more than two or
three per cent, of alcohol. It is a little stronger, there-
fore, than ginger pop, but not quite so strong as small
beer. The women use it by the quart, and the men by
the gallon, and as none of them seem inebriated, the
beverage is probably quite harmless. The singing and
dancing reminds one of similar performances by the
Indians of the plains. The time is good, but the melo-
dy is simple and somewhat wearisome. The dance is be-
gun by one or two pairs, each pair consisting of a man
and a woman. They move forward and back, and in
separate circles, both to the right and the left, using
arms and legs at the same time.

The steps are three in character, one being similar
to the waltz step, another being a flat shuffle, and a third
being a hop such as marked the old fashioned hop waltz.
With tho arms there is - greater variety and freedom of
movement, the woman surpassing the man in this re-
spect. The latter has his arms stretched outward, mov-
ing them forward and back, up and down, graduating
each movement with the step of his feet. The woman
moves her arms from a bended position over the head, a
full demicircle to a bended position behind the back.
She also sways her body forward and back, and side-

Si MANILA AND THE) PttlLif PINES.

ways^ and has a curious hitoh or twist of the hips, some-*
thing like that of the houlah houlah dancers of Hawaii.
Frequently the man will snap his fingers like castanets,
or clap his hands. After the first pair or two get
tired, they step backward from the dancing space, and
are immediately congratulated, thanked, and rewarded
with immense bowls of the native beer. In the mean-
time their places have been taken by others. Toward
the early hours of the morning the pairs are increased
until thirty or forty are in full movement, with a hun-
dred beating time with their hands and feet, and hum-
ming, or even chanting rude melodies, whose tempo
coincides with that of the dance. There is a fire burn-
ing day and night, which throws wavering light upon
the throng; smoky torches burn here and there, and in
some corner the familiar kerosene lamp recalls the far-
off civilization. The man's costume is a light blanket,
and a pair of trousers, and the woman's a smaller blanket
and skirt, from the waist to halfway below the knee.
On the second day they looked haggard and exhausted,
but they keep on as if impelled by a religious duty,
until they reach the appointed time for closing, and
then most of them are so worn out that they sink down,
and are immediately sound asleep in the very center of
the hall or place of meeting.

These Garotis are braver and more feared than the
peasantry further north, or the coast dwellers and men
of the lowlands. They, therefore, are not so poor, and
have more enjo^'ment in life. The well-to-do usually
possess one shirt, which they wear upon the great religi-
ous festival, and the women will own a shawl and a few
a coarse lace mantilla. The last-named owner is looked
up to as an almost unearthly being by her less fortunate
sisters and neighbors.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 83

The houses are small huts made of wood leaves and
thatch, and contain but one room. There is a bed in
the corner, and some wooden contrivance serving as a
table or stand. The fireplace is in the middle, and is
used for smoking meats as well as for cooking. All of
these savages understand the preservative nature of
smoke and apply it to fish, flesh, and fowl, with good
practical skill. Overhead the cross beams and girders
are utilized as a storage in which are kept rice, corn,
dried animal food and such vegetables as do not decay
readily. It is clear that in this part of Luzon at least
there has been but little racial change in many centuries.
The mountain men, the peasants, the men of the coast
and lowlands, and the Oarotis each occupies his own
neighborhood, acknowledging the rights of the others to
theirs. While they are not particularly friendly, they
are not at feud, but each carries on his own way of living
without reference or thought as to those of his neigh-
bors. The Spaniards declare that this was the condition
of Luzon when they first took possession of the island,
a nd that the people are about the same in every respect
as they were three hundred years ago, with the excep-
tion that two-thirds have been nominally, if not actually,
christianized. Even the Spaniards themselves admit
that these races, brown, yellow, and yellow brown, have
not improved greatly in the three hundred years, and
that at heart many of them still cherish the savage prac-
tices and superstitions which have always been pro-
hibited by Spanish law. No attempt worthy' of mention
has been made to educate them. They keep up their old
languages, and many understand scarcely a word of the
legal tongue of the country.

84 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES,

CHAPTER IX.

CAVITE.

Southwest of the province of Manila lies that of
Cavite, one of the most important in the island of Luzon.
At the northern end the territory runs out in a long
peninsula, whose end turns and splits into two small
penisulas pointing toward the mainland. This is the
site of the city of Cavite which, beside being the capital
of the province, is also the northern naval station of the
Philippine government. The northwest coast of Cavite
forms one of the shores of Manila IB&y. On the south it
is shut in by a high range of hills or mountains, and on
the east it is bounded by La Laguna, or Lake Count3\
At its extreme northwest it touches the famous lake
known as Laguna de Bay, whose beauty and picturesque
scenery have made it a favorite place for visitors as well
as natives. The province of Cavite is traversed by many
small streams running from southeast to northwest, and
breaking through what was once a line of low hills. The
bay of Cavite is shaped something like a shoe, of which
the upper part lies between the arsenal at the. point and
the Manila mainland : the heel runs into the latter dis-
trict and the toe runs out into the peninsula, so that at
one point the latter is practically an isthmus. The prov-
ince is very fertile, and is in a high state of cultivation.
It is well populated, the natives being very good types of
the Tagal ri^ce. The town i^ fortified, and within it9

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 85

walls are some substantial houses^ a theatre, several toler*
able hotels, four good cafes, two well-built churches, and
the goyernment works at the navy yard. There are no
sewers, and the poorer districts of the city are very
filthy. During the hot season the city dirt decays, pro-
ducing vile odors and more or less malaria. There are
both fevers and choleraic disorders during this portion
of the year. In the rainy season, and in winter the
place is quite healthful, although the streets are often
too muddy for comfortable locomotion. The surround-
ing country bears the evidence of an industrious com-
munity. These appearances aie not deceptive. There
are many farms and plantations, and the harvests are
large and valuable. There is an extensive coast tra£So,
the passengers going by small light-draft steamers, and
produce of all sorts is carried in part by steamers, but in
chief by sailing vessels.

The bay of Cavite is a good place to study the naval
architecture of that part of the world. There are always
several warships in port, ranging from ancient Spanish
gunboats to the latest output of the British shipyards.
There are many steamers plying between Manila, Japan,
China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. These are usually
small, or medium-sized vessels ranging from five hundred
tons to about two thousand. The average is about a
thousand tons burden. Here is one of the few places
where the American flag can still be seen. The old clip-
per ships have not entirely passed away, and two or more
are almost always at Cavite waiting to load with hemp,
sugar, hard woods, dye woods and other products of the
soil. Now and then a light-draught Spanish gunboat
built for these waters comes into port. It looks like
nothing seen at home. It is armed with several small
cannon^ usually two or three rapid-fire guns. There

86 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

is a main deck well shut in^ and an upper deck partly
covered with awning and partly with a half deck over the
oflScers' quarters. Here the meals are served, the ham-
mocks swung at night, and visitors received in the even-
ing. If there be any breeze it is bound to be felt on this
deck, which makes it very popular with the navy.

These gunboats draw from three to eight feet of water,
and can ascend many of the smaller rivers to the towns
or rendezvous of refractory natives. The native craft
are quite numerous, and range from canoes and long
bancas to wide, round bowed, flat-bottomed freight boats.
These boats carry two or three masts with lateen sails
stiffened by bamboo ribs. They sail very well before the
wind, and are perfectly safe. They make excessive lee-
way when the wind is abeam, and are slower than the
proverbial snail when the wind is ahead. In stormy
weather the Malay crews throw a drag from the stem,
which steadies the vesseel to an extraordinary extent.
The anchor is generally of European make, but some-
times of native build, consisting of the hard and tough
timber of the forests loaded with lead or with iron bolts
and rings. Occasionally these boats will have small
cabins, but the majority have have semicircular mov-
able hood roofs running from the helmsman's afterdeck
to the forecastle, where the anchor windlass and heavy
poles and sweeps are carried.

While these boats look clumsy and even uncouth, they
are remarkably strong and seaworthy. Some of them
have an extra planking of a native wood which has the
same quality as the cellulose used on modern warships.
It yields when a shot is fired into it, and immediately
closes again, keeping all the water out. This is a relic
of the pirate days when the Malays astonished European
^ar sloops by sailing; away unconcernedly after their

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES 87

oraft had been shot through a dozen times. The fisher-
men are very skillful^ and make use of every kno-wn
deyiee in their calling. They have a drop net which is
stretched on a frame of bamboos ten feet square. They
also use long nets and huge scoop nets suspended from a
heavy rope fastened to the sterns of two smacks. The
vessel sails before the wind with just enough divergence
of the helm to keep the rope taut. The net hangs from
this pouching downward and backward, and coming up
to a second rope drawn parallel and nearly below the
first. This style of fishing is employed when there are
schools of fish running on or near the surface of the sea,
and in such instances it will often take a catch of several
tons.

^Another pleasant feature of the bay is the number of
steam launches darting here and there. There are no
wharves at Cavite. The only places where a ship can
touch the land is at the navy yard in Cavite, and in the
Pasig river at Manila.

The people of the province are noted for their intelli-
gence, and also for the revolutionary spirit. It is in this
district that no less than twenty uprisings have occurred
within the present century. Many of the natives have
had the advantages of education, as have a larger per-
centage of the half-breeds. They detest Spanish rule,
and have an unrelenting hatred of the friars, to whom
they ascribe most of their misfortunes. The many water-
courses and the thick underbrush and jungle make the
country di£Scult of invasion and easy of defense. During
the rebellion in 1896-97 the men of Cavite, under the
leadership of Aguinaldo and other revolutionists, held
Spanish arms at bay with only one-half as many follow-
ers as there were troops, and during the trouble killed
9in4 woi;iQc|ed piore thai^ nin^ thousftnd o| their enemies.

88 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

Cavite was settled at about the same time as Manila^ and
it was only through the personal preferences of the first
governor-general that the capital was located at the lat-
ter city. It was captured by the Chinese in the seven-
teenth century ; b^^ the British in the eighteenth, and by
the Americans in the nineteenth. It affords an excellent
base of operations, both naval and military. Without
ships a small force can hold the peninsula against an
army. And even with ships Cavite has more advantages
than any other small bay or harbor within a hundred
miles of Manila. It is about six miles and a half from
Manila, and is connected with that city by steamboats
and steam launches. There is also a road from Cavite,
running southward along the peninsula to the mainland,
and thence northward through the province to the south
gate of Manila city. This road is fair riding, and is re-
markably picturesque. It is very serpentine, and is said
to be about twenty miles long. This is used chiefly by
poor natives who cannot afford to pay the fares demanded
for the water trip.

In the hill country of Cavite province there are many
sights of great beauty''. On the east there is a glorious
view of Bay lake, and on the west the hills, fields, for-
ests and be^^ond them again the blue sea. The woods of
the hills are aromatic, and the hills themselves quite free
from fever and malaria. Some of these mountain sites
are utilized for summer residence, and one or two enjoy
considerable local repute as sanitariums.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 89

CHAPTER X.

ILOILO.

The second city in importance in the Philippines is
Iloilo, capital of the province of the same name and of
the island of Panay. It is about two hundred miles from
Manila as the crow flies, and three hundred odd by
water. There is a steamer from Manila to Boilo, which
runs the distance in thirty-six hours. The accommoda-
tions are good and the trip a pleasant one. Panay is not
so pleasant as Luzon. It is much wilder in aspect, and
the natives are not so civilized. There is a range of high
mountains running nearly north and south on the west-
ern side of the island, which is a rough triangle in out-
line, and another range in the northeast corner. This
part of the island is not entirely explored, and is covered
with magnificent forests. There are many small streams,
but fewer lakes and arms of the sea than in Luzon.
There are many marshes and much malaria and fever.
The capital is situated near the southeastern point of
Panay on the border of a shallow arm of the sea running
between Panay and the large marshy and mountainous
island of Guimaras. At some time in the past the chan-
nel has been wider and deeper, but the rainfall and
storms are ever washing down the land and from beneath
the surface cosmic forces are undoubtedly producing a
slow upheaval. The city is built upon the bed of an
uncient marshy and is Qxtremel^ unprepossessing, Tho

90 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

harbor is a capital one, being well protected against the
fierce winds and typhoons of those latitudes. The major
part of the harbor has deep water. The city itself is
remarkably cool and healthy, considering its natural dis-
advantages. As the steamer approaches the island of
Guimaras the traveler can see a well-designed but uncom-
pleted lighthouse. It was built in the middle of the
eighties, and although the money has been collected three
or four times over it has never yet been finished. Funni-
est of all, every ship — especially the foreign owned —
which enters the port has to pay a large bill for light-
house dues. The province of Iloilo is very populous,
containing nearly five hundred thousand citizens. It is
the center of the sugar trade of the archipelago, the
annual exports being about one hundred and fifty thou-
sand tons a year; It also does a large trade in hemp,
sapanwood, tobacco, coffee, and motber-of-pearl.

The sugar exported by Iloilo is not all raised in the
province, some of it being brought across from the rich
plantations of Kegros island. When the price of sugar
is high the city and island are very prosperous. The
bounty system of European governments upon home-
made beet sugar has so reduced the demand for cane
sugar that the trade in Iloilo has hardly paid expenses
for seven or eight years. On several occasions they have
exported large quantities to San Francisco, but the bulk
goes to Hong Eong, China and Japan. Since sugar has
proved so unprofitable much attention has been paid to
tabacco, and the product is increasing annually in both
quantity and quality. It is sent to Manila, where it is
mixed with the Luzon tobacco in order to make the lower
grade of Manila cigars. These are ridiculously cheap,
being sold sometimes as low as two and three for a cent.
Bice is ^ultivate4 with success, th^ industry having beea

MANILA ANt) tHE t>ttlLIPl»iNfiS. »1

introduoed and developed by enterprising Chinamen.
The natives conduct two successful manufactures under
Spanish or Chinese direction; one of pina or pineapple
cloth, and the other jusi or silk cloth. The entire
island is in but a moderate condition, owing to the enor-
mous taxes and imposts levied by the government, the
profits and prosperity of the merchants and planters being
absorbed by the officials, priests and politicians. The
Spaniards have no hesitancy in extracting the last possi-
ble cent, because the business of the place has passed
into the hands of Chinese and mestizos. Although the
island of Panay is very near Luzon, it is almost entirely
free from earthquakes. But, on the other hand, it is
subject to frequent visitations from typhoons. The larg-
est business house is an English firm, of which the local
manager is consul for Great Britain and Hawaii, his
assistant is consul for the United States, and the firm
itself is agent for all sorts of companies and corporations
in every part of the world. The firm extends lavish hos-
pitality to all visitors, especially to Englishmen and
Americans. As there is but one cheap hotel in the place,
this courtesy is certainly worthy of being recorded.
There are no public carriages in the city, no places of
amusement, and what few restaurants there are, are of the
cheapest and lowest description. The streets are un-
paved, and in the wet season are a foot deep in mud ; in
the dry, they are ankle deep in dust. If the cit^^ is
uninteresting, the country round about is royally pictur-
esque. There are forests where the trees rise one tower-
ing over another until they terminate in the green tops of
monarohs of the woods a hundred and fifty and a hundred
and eighty feet high. There are mountains in the dis-
tance — some sharp and clearly cut like sugar loaves, and
some magnificent masses of rock rising thousands of feet

&3 Manila and the Philippines.

into the air. Everything is green, and has a sheen as if
it had been coated with velvet. The city faces the chan-
nel on the one side, and a muddy creek on the other. It
is slack and small in the dry season, but in the wet sea-
son it has a good current and often overflows its banks
on both sides. There is a small public square which
nature keeps beautiful with flowers and weeds, and the
streets are wide and regular. There are many good
houses ; that is to say, comfortable ones. The two finest
buildings belong, one to an American firm, in which they
do business on the ground floor and live on the second,
and the other is a large Swiss commercial house.

There is a church on the square, which might be mis-
taken for a sugar refinery or a jail. It was apparently
built by natives with no knowledge of architecture, and
these in turn were doubtless directed by some priest from
Manila, who imagined that he must take the same pre-
cautions against earthquakes in his new home as in the
old one. Not far from the church is a small courthouse
looking very cheap and dirty; a convent, somewhat
dilapidated, and a few small houses built of stone below
and wood above. The right-hand side of the square has
the best row of houses in the Philippines outside of
Manila. They are built very solidly, being of brick and
stone in the lower floors, brick and wood in the upper
ones, and all having corrugated iron roofs fastened by
wrought iron rods to the masonry below. The other
houses are of all sorts and kinds. Some are handsome
Indian bungalows, some are what is known as typhoon
houses (built of solid stone walls one story high with
brick and iron roofs) ; others are the cheapest kind of
Malay bungalows and insignificant habitations occupied
by Chinese and mestizos, while hundreds of others are
filthy hovels inhabited by the poor natives. At the far

MANILA ANt) TH£ PHILIPPINES. 63

end of the main street in the government house, built of
stone and wood, and once very handsome, but now so
neglected as to be in an almost ruinous condition. Over
one third of the town site is land reclaimed from the
swamps. The territory on the other side of the creek
facing the city is a low marsh, which becomes a swamp or
a watery waste at very high tides, or at ordinary high
tides during the rainy season. The place is very dull
indeed. One English business house has a bowling alley
and one American house a billiard table. The Swiss firm
has a tolerable piano, and a mad Spaniard is pleased to
conduct what he calls a cafe. He would starve to death
but for the courtesy of the foreign merchants and of the
merchant marine who visits the place. Once a year or
once in two years a dramatic company comes from
Manila to Hollo to replenish its treasury. As there is
neither theatre nor hall, they give their entertainment in
a shed. Nevertheless, this is so glorious a distraction to
the citizens that they crowd every performance, and
beside paying good prices for their seats get up benefits,
extend every courtesy which can please or be of advan-
tage to the Thespians. Among the sights of the town
the most striking is the spectacle of a well-to-do half-
breed woman and her daughters going from her home to
church. Her house would be dear at a hundred dollars.
The furniture within is not worth twenty-five, but each
of the women will gleam and sparkle in brilliant silks
and have at least a thousand dollars' worth of jewelry
and gems apiece. Another sight is the making of sina-
may or fine hemp cloth by the natives. They work in
the open air under a shed, or in the shade of a tree, and
in rainy weather in their own homes. They are slow,
methodical, their weaving implements being of the most
primitive sort. Somehow or other, though, they turn

94 MANILA AND THE I>H1LIPI>INES,

out very nioe fabrics, and make enough money even at
the low rate paid for wages in that part of the world,
they manage to live in more than comfort. From Iloilo
small steamers communicate with other important points
in that part of the Archipelago. They are subsidized by
the government, which uses them to transport its soldiers
whenever the natives are refractory and need a little
blood-letting. The lines run to the city of Antique, in
the province of Antique ; to the city of Conception in the
province of that name, and to ports on Negros Island.

Not far from Iloilo are the cities of Jaro and Molo,
They are situated upon much higher ground, being in
the hill ^!t>untry rather than the marsh, and are charming
residential settlements. Jaro is the cathedral city of the
district, and has in it quite a neat, though small and well-
proportioned cathedral. In Molo is a very handsome
church whose altars are famously rich in gold, silver and
jewels. Both of these cities have wide thoroughfares, a
wilderness of gardens, well-built schools, and many at-
tractive villas.

There are very few Spaniards in either city, the upper
classes consisting of wealthy Chinese, natives and
mestizos. Here also are the summer retreats of many of
the Iloilo merchants. There is fine shooting in the neigh*
borhood, and the markets are well stocked with vege-
tables, fruits, poultry, meats, and game. Living is a
trifle dearer than in Manila, while rents are cheaper.
The bishop has a small palace at Jaro, and the govern-
ment officials occupy well-constructed edifices erected
especially for them. In the central districts are many
natives in a still savage state, and these give trouble to
the government whenever the tax farmers put in an ap-
pearance. They receive nothing from the authorities,
and they cannot understand why they should be called

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 95

upon to give up what little property they possess. Many
of them are bitterly opposed to the church on account of
the abuse of the civil and religious rights which the friars
possess. As late as May, 1898, there was an uprising in
one of the districts, and the troops promptly sent to the
scene of trouble slaughtered some eight or nine hundred
natives.

9(5 MANILA AND THE PHILIPFINBS.

OHAFTEB XL

OBBU.

Cebu is the last and smallest of the three treaty ports.
It is the capital of the island of the same name, and is a
close rival to Hollo in commercial importance. It lies
southeast of Iloilo on the other side of the Island of
Negros. A line of steamers make the run from Iloilo to
Cebu in about twenty hours, while a larger line runs from
Manila to Cebu direct. The island is long and narrow,
being in dimension about one hundred miles in length
and about fifty at its greatest width. It has a population
of about six hundred thousand, and carries on a com-
merce in sugar, hemp, sapanwood, and other products.
Its output of sugar is about twenty thousand tons a year.
Years ago Cebu was the administrative center or capital
not only of the island itself, but of all of the Yisaya
group. But the govemmental seat was removed to
Manila in 1849, pursuant to the system of centralization
which Spain has followed in her government of the archi-
pelago. The city is situated upon an arm of the sea like
Iloilo, made by an island lying to the southeast of Cebu.
The harbor is excellent, and the anchorage safe. The
city is well built, with wide thoroughfares, and possesses
many houses above the ordinary. At one time, when it
was the seat of administration, it is said to have been a
very lively place. To-day this is all changed, and its
only characteristic is commercial activity^ and none too

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES, 97

much of that. The old government buildings are falling
into decay, the convent shows the ravages of time, and
many of the streets are mossy and even grassy.

It is the metropolis of the district, and from it are
shipped not only the sugar and hemp grown there, but
also the hemp and other produce of the islands of Leyte,
Mindanao, Camiguin, and Bohol. On the island are
large deposits of coal, sulphur, and many other minerals ;
but the government has never utilized these resources
with the one exception of the coal. Neither has it per-
mitted any one else to take advantage of an opportunity
which might pour wealth into the territory. Beside the
amount of sugar exported, Cebu sends away about fifteen
thousand tons of hemp every year. The trade of the
place has passed almost entirely into the hands of the
Chinese and half-breeds, the extortions of the officials
having driven out nearly all foreigners.

The foreign community in Cebu consists of agencies of
two English, one German, and three Spanish houses. It
is so small that the managing clerk of one of the English
houses is consul for Qreat Britain, the United States,
Italy and Hawaii. The two main houses represent all
the insurance companies and banks as well. The odd-
est thing about Cebu is the coal; the coal beds appear
to have been acted upon by a volcano in some past age,
which forced fumes of sulphur through all the strata de-
positing solid particles in irregular masses. Some of the
coal is quite free from sulphur, but other portions are
yellow from the quantity forced into them. This coal is
very handsome to look at, with mottlings of black and
yellow. It is, however, very dangerous. Left exposed
to the air for some time it takes fire spontaneously.
When ignited, the amount of sulphur is so large that the
fumes and smoke are filled with acid, rendering it diA-

98 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

gerous if not deadly to all animal life in the immediate
neighborhood. A German chemist tried at one time to
obtain a concession for making sulphur from these beds.
His estimates showed that he could produce it more
cheaply than the brimstone mines in Sicily. These esti-
mates were the ruin of his project. They so inflamed the
avarice of the politicians that the unhappy chemist found
that the concession would cost him all of the profits of
the establishment for the first ten years. The surround-
ings of Cebu are very quaint. In front is the historic
island of Magtan, where Magellan, the great navigator,
was killed, and back of it are ranges of high hills, some
with rolling outlines and others with comparatively sharp
peaks and crags. There are many good roads, and a few
marshes as well. The soil is porous, allowing thorough
natural drainage, and the atmosphere is remarkably dry
and pure for the tropics. There are many fine forests
upon the island and a wonderful display of cacti. The
latter are utilized by Spaniards and natives for hedges
and fences, and when well grown make a most invulner-
able wall. In the city is a cathedral, a rather fine-look-
ing church, a Paulist and a Jesuit chapel, and the Church
of the Holy Child of Cebu. Of this personage the fol-
lowing is the story.

On July 28, 1565, an image of the Holy Child, was
found on the shore by a soldier who was sick and ailing,
and who had gone walking along the beach in the hope
that a little fresh air and exercise would do him good.
He had no more touched the image than he felt better,
and by the time he returned to the camp his strength
had been restored, and the next morning he was in a
beter condition than he had ever been before. The news
of the miracle spread through the camp, and the friars
immediately held special services in commemoration of

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 99

the event. The image was given to them and a church
built to commemorate the fact.

In the sacred inclosure, not far from the altar, the
image was placed in the special niche of honor. In 1627
the church was burned down^ but when the soldiers and
priests went through the ashes in order to save relics and
such melted metal as they could find, lo, in the middle
of the debris entirely uninjured was the image. It was
then placed in another church which was ruined by both
earthquake and typhoon without any damage to this
wonderful statuette. Another church was built for the
Holy Child alone, and there it has remained ever since.
Fires have started in the building and have gone out of
their own accord ; typhoons have torn down the houses
on either side, but have spared the sacred edifice, and
even the earthquake has never disturbed the vigils of the
little figure. To prevent theft and the transfer of its
virtues to other localities, the saint is kept in a strong
room under many a bolt and bar, lock and key. It is
made of wood, a little over a foot high, and is either
ebony or else is so dark with time as to pass for that
wood. The features are Mongolian, and to a skeptical
eye the figure looks like a clumsy carving out of some
Philippine wood by an ignorant soldier or lazy native.
It is highly venerated and is completely covered with
little pieces of jewelry which have been presented by
grateful patrons who have been cured through the saint's
mediation. It is now worshiped in the Philippines with
great solemnity, and on all public occasions it enjoys all
the honors accorded to a field marshal of the first rank.
Its feast day is the 20th of January, when the church is
crowded with worshipers from Cebu and from the outly-
ing islands, even as far as Luzon itself. In the same
room are two immense tin boxes (made of that metal to

100 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES,

keep but insects) which are filled with the arms^ legs, and
heads of saints, with their robes all ready for adjustment
and use on feast days. On such days these are set up on
concealed framework, placed in vehicles, and drawn or
driven around the city.

In Oebu is a small colony of Catholic Chinese. They
have a patron saint, St. Nicholas, who is not the legen-
dary hero of our Christmas, and to him a church was
dedicated which is still flourishing to-day. Up to the
eighteenth century the many Chinese in Cebu remained
wedded to their heathen idols. They resisted all efforts
at ohristianization, and proved superior to the tortures of
the inquisition. A good priest who was sorely exercised
over their spiritual darkness, prayed so vehemently to
St. Nicholas that the latter took pity upon him and said
that his prayers should be answered. The most influen-
tial man among the Chinese merchants in Cebu at the
time was a Cantonese named Wong — though some legends
say that he was an Amoy merchant named Ong. He
worshiped Buddha and Confucius and his ancestors,
but in other respects was a good citizen and a flne man.
One night, after he had received a large payment for
goods, Wong, or Ong, heard a noise in his counting-
room, and looking up saw that he was beset by five armed
robbers. They had smeared blood upon their foreheads;
meaning thereby that they neither asked nor gave quar-
ter, and each had in his sinewy right hand a wicked-
looking creese. Wong turned to seize a sword which he
kept for such guests, but to his horror found that it had
been taken out of the scabbard, and that he was defense-
less. As the robbers advanced toward him he heard
strange sweet music, and through the wall came St.
Nicholas with his hands outstretched. ''loan save thee,
Wong," said the saint, ''if thou will believe in the true

to

• 1 •*

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 101

Ood, and not in thy vain idols." Wong being a sensi-
ble busines man accepted the proposition immediately.
The saint waved his hand and the robbers fell into a
swoon during which Wong, with characteristic Chinese
thoughtfulness, seized the knife of one and cut the
throats of all. The next day he summoned his family,
neighbors, and friends, and told them of the providential
escape, and from that time on he and his were worthy
sons of the church.

A Spanish critic says that as a Chinaman cannot con-
tract a valid marriage in the Philippines, nor perform
many other important acts unless he is a Catholic in good
standing, business enterprise may have had as much to
do with the conversion as good St. Nicholas himself.

102 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER Xn.

8ULU OITT, ISLAND AND SULTANATE.

Upon Spanish rule in the far East has always fallen
the shadow of Islam. The same fierce and fanatical force
in that part of the world as in every land where the cres-
cent has ever held sway. In the lottery of nations both
Christianity and Mohammedanism unknowingly com-
peted for the Philippines. The cathedral and the con-
vent won three-fourths, and the mosque and the minaret
the remainder. From a very early period there had been
a movement of population from Borneo, Java and Suma-
tra, northward and eastward into the Philippines. Each
wave which came into the archipelago met with resist-
ance from those already settled there. Weak or small
invading parties were defeated, and defeat in those years
meant death to the vanquished, while the stronger and
larger parties defeated the inhabitants, and slew, captured
or disbursed them.

The traveler in going through the archipelago, notices
that the people in the southern islands are larger,
stronger, and less docile and servile than those of the
north. The most independent of all the tribes or races
are those who inhabit the large island of Mindanao and
the smaller ones of Basilan Sulu, or Jolo, Tapul, Tawi
Tawi, and the numerous smaller pieces of land which
compose the Sulu Sultanate or Archipelago.

About the time that Magellan, then in the employ of

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES 103

Spain disooYered the Carolines and the Philippines, the
people of Borneo were suffering or enjo3'in&: internecine
war of the bloodiest sort, a practical consequence was an
extensive exodus of weaker tribes northward to Balabao
and Palauan, and eastward to the Sulu islands and Min-
danao. The troubles in Borneo culminated in a tremen-
dous war between two Borneo sultans, who were brothers,
and who fought with the frenzy that only brothers can.
The unsuccessful soyereign whose name was Paguian
Tindig, fled with his followers to Sulu and Basilan.
Here the host settled and began a Mohammedan civiliza-
tion, which by degrees became a strong power in that
part of the world. A cousin of the sultan settled on
Basilan, and soon became its sole ruler.

He was loyal to the sultan at flrst, but after a time he
married the Princess Qoan, daughter of the Mohammedan
King of Mindanao. Spurred on by ambition he plotted
against his cousin the sultan, and attacked him in Sulu.
Though assisted by his father-in-law's soldiers and
sailors he was unsuccessful, and after many flghts on
land and at sea he retired to his possessions in Basilan.
The sultan went to Manila and pledged his vassalage to
the Spanish, if in return they would help him subjugate
his rebellious cousin. This the Spanish gladly agreed to
do, and began fco equip a squadron to carry out the agree-
ment. It was not ready in a few days as had been
promised, in fact, it was several months before the fleet
got under way at Manila and sailed southward. In the
meantime, Tindig, tired of waiting, attacked the rebels
and routed tbem completely. It was an unhappy victory
because the brave monarch himself fell, covered with
wounds, as the day was won. The Spaniards arrived in
due season at Sulu or Jolo, as they called it, and not
finding the sultan turned and went back to Manila*

104 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

They were careful to preserye the treaty^ and upon this
lies the first olaim of sovereignty over the Sulu Sultanate.

In the meantime^ Adasaolan, who appears to have been
a man of remarkable ability^ developed his own beautiful
territory; Basilan made allianoes with the monarohs of
Mindanao and with the chief of northern Borneo^ and
compelled all his subjects and tributaries to adopt the
Koran at the point of the sword. He built the first mosque
in the city of Jolo, and received from far off Turkey
honors and titles from the Sheikh Al Uslam^ the head of
the Mohammedan church, and from the Sublime Porte in
recognition of his services to the faith. Thus his claim
to sovereignty, joined with his descent and his posses-
sion of the territory, undoubtedly gave him a better
claim to those lands than the treaty of Manila between
Tindig and the Spaniards.

in 1595 the Spaniards sent an expedition to take pos-
session of their property, and incidentally to spread
Ohristianity in heathen communities. The expedition
was a complete failure. Nearly all the ofiScers were
killed, half the men incapacitated by disease and wounds,
and the warship so battered that it only could get as far
as Cebu on its return. One effect of this war was to dis-
abuse the Sulu mind of the idea that the Spaniards were
all powerful at sea. From this time on piracy prevailed
in the waters of the Archipelago, and was never sup-
pressed until English men-of-war propelled by steam, put
an end to the evil in the present century. Of the pirates
the Sulus were the most daring and skillful. They fre-
quently sailed past the walls of the citj* of Manila, and
captured trading vessels outside the Peninsula of Cavite.

At one time the Sulu pirates had Bohol, Cebu, Negros,
Leyte, and even a part of Panay island under tribute.
Where communities refused to pay tribute they were at*

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 105

taoked by well-armed pirate chiefs^ their men slain, their
houses burned, their property looted, and their wives and
daughters taken as slaves away to the South. This piti-
able condition of affairs continued for more than two
hundred and fifty years.

The Madrid government did the best it could under
the circumstances. It set aside large amounts of money
for fighting craft, forts, weapons, and ammunition, and
directed the Philippine officials to exterminate the pirat-
ical communities. But the money was diverted into
other channels and went to enrich the officer holders and
politicians. Hundreds of thousands of inoffensive
natives, and scores of Spaniards were slaughtered almost
with impunit3% while the governors wrote home accounts
of imaginary victories, and artful descriptions of peace-
ful lands and untroubled waters. At the end of their
term they came back rich for life.

There are persons alive to-day in Manila and Oebu,
Iloilo, and Antique who have seen the interior of the
pirate prisons in the Sulu islands.

A critic calls attention to the fact that during this long
periods when the Spanish government was denouncing
slavery in the East Indies and trying to suppress the
evil, it was the leading nation in the African slave trade
in the West Indies, and was doing its best to develop
and profit by the traffic. During this long period there
was constant war between Spain and Sulu. The Span-
iards made a settlement at Zamboanga, on the extreme
southeast point of Mindanao. Here they built a walled
city, constructed strong forts, and made it a naval sta-
tion and arsenal second only to Cavite. It is opposite to
Basilan, and afforded a fine base of operations. But so
careless and neglectful of the simplest precautions were
the authorities, that the place soon came to be known as

106 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES*

the Sepuloher of Spain. There were no sewers, and the
natural drainage was prevented by the heavy walls and
fortifications of the place. The heat and moisture made
decay swift and universal, and developed malarial diseases
whose deadliness astonished even the Spaniards. Of one
garrison of a thousand men eight hundred and fifty died
in a single year, while in the annual estimates made in
Manila a somber item was the provision for disease and
death at the southern naval station. This long war had
many interesting and even heroic features. To the Span-
iards it was a solemn religious conflict the continuation,
as it were, of the old wars against the Moors. Soldiers
went into it after mass, prayer, and hymns; priests and
friars armed themselves and fought side by side with the
soldiers; private citizens carried away by religious
enthusiasm gave up their business in Manila and other
cities, bade farewell to their friends and relatives and
consecrated themselves to God, that is to say, joined the
Spanish army. It is pitiful to look back and see that
frightful and unnecessary waste of human life. For one
Spaniard killed by the pirates twenty perished from camp
diseases, and of the twenty, nineteen were occassioned by
the neglect, dishonesty, and corruption of the officials.

All this time the various monarchs of Mindanao pre-
served a skillful neutrality, siding, whenever they did
take action, with Sulu and against Spain. On several
occasions the Spaniards endeavored to obtain control of
the Sulu lands by diplomacy instead of war. In 1760
thoy made friends with the sultan Mahamad, who had
been deposed by his brother. The monarch was first
obliged to embrace Christianity and then to swear alle-
giance to Spain before the Spaniards would agree to
assist him. Just as the governor-general was beginning
to congratulate himself upon his diplomatic success he

MANILA AND THE I>HILIPPINe:S. 107

intercepted a letter, written by the royal convert, which
showed that he was equally diplomatic and intended to
utilize the Spanish power and to give nothing in return.
The sultan and all bis retinue were arrested and oast into
prison. The governor-general then determined to exter-
minate all the Mohammedans in the archipelago, destroy
their crops, bum their houses, and desolate their tilled
land. As some of the members of the cabinet thought
the proposal too inhuman, the governor-general wrote a
proclamation jutifying his course. A large expedition
with nineteen hundred soldiers was sent from Manila
which attacked Jolo. Here the Spaniards claimed a
great victory, but as they left immediately afterward with*
out having accomplished it, their claim maybe doubted.
They next attacked the island of Tawi Tawi, where every
man who landed from the fleet was slain. The bead of
the expedition was so discouraged that he left the Sulu
islands and sailed back to Zamboanga.

The Sulus now returned the compliment, and sending
out a large fleet of war craft ravaged every coast which
was in Spanish possession. To increase the troubles the
sultan of Mindanao made an alliance with his Sulu col-
league, and sent out a vast flotilla manned with experi<i
enced warriors and mariners. This war kept up for four
years, and the Spaniards were put to great straits.

In 1755 the Spaniards released the imprisoned sultan,
but would not allow him to go outside of Manila. Iik
1763 the British, who were then at war with the Span-
iards, took up the sultan's side, and conveyed him in a
man of war to Sulu, where they replaced kirn on the
throne. The moment he could gather a su£Scient force
he attacked the Spaniards with great fury at many points
in Mindanao and Negros. In 1776 both sides grew
tired of perpetual conflict, and fr^m that period until

108 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

1861 there was an armed peace between Salu and Spam.
Pirates occasionally ravaged Spanish cities, and Spanish
gunboats destroyed Sulu craft, but nothing amounting to
war occurred. In 1851 there were more piratical outrages
than usual, and the governor-general undertook to punish
the sultan. He made careful preparations, and with a
large and well armed expedition attacked and captured
the capital, Jolo. The sultan fled and established a new
capital at May bun, on the southern side of the island, in a
position well adapted for offense and defense. The gov-
emor-general was satisfied with his first success and
sailed back to Manila, foolishly leaving a small garrison
to overawe the islanders. The latter were of stem stuff,
began guerrilla warfare upon the garrison the moment
the ships were in the ofSng, and in a short time killed
off every Spaniard.

By degrees the sultan grew bolder, and committed
ravages throughout the archipelago from Basilan and
Mindanao. In 1876, another expedition was sent,
headed hy Yice-Admiral Malcampo. It destroyed several
forts, and kill many natives, but it lost more men than
it destroyed. Nevertheless it brought about a temporary
peace. The sultan admitted the sovereignty of Spain
over the Sulu domain. To make it more binding,
Madrid induced Great Britain and Germany to sign a
protocol recognizing the treaty, and more specifically the
claim of Spain to the Tawi Tawi, Tapul and Panguitarang
group of islands. In 1880 a British company colo-
nized a large tract of land in Borneo, recognizing the
suzerainty of the sultan of Sulu. Spain made a vigorous
protest, but the British government decided in favor of
the sultan. After some negotiations Spain gave up all
claim to lands in Borneo belonging to the Sulu Sultan-
ate. In 1887 insurrection broke out in the islandi^

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. lOd

and in Mindanao itself. The Spanish government sent
its fleet in post haste to the scene of disorder, and also
forwarded reinforcements for the various garrisons.
There was much fighting, and considerable slaughter of
the natives through the modern rifles and rifled cannon
of the Spanish forces. The Spaniards returned to
Manila, and in March of that year held a Grand To
Deum. Another insurrection broke out, and this was in
turn put down. In 1888 there was comparative peace
throughout the Sulu Archipelago. Since that time the
Spaniards have been in legal possession of the country.
They have garrisons at Tawi Tawi, Siassi, Bangao, at
Jolo, at Maybun, Basilan, Zamboanga, and Ootta Bato,
Ta Toan, and Cag^ayan.

Outside of the posts they have no authority nor power
whatever. The sultan rules the same as ever, and the
native, and not the Spanish laws are observed. These
laws are very odd, seeming to be a survival of the ancient
Malay kingdoms. The language of these Sulus is a
complete mystery to scholars. Instead of being a Malay
speech, pure, or impure, it appears to be a degenerate
Sanscrit mixed with Arabic. When or how they came
under the control of the early Hindus is impossible to
discover. That it must have ..been a long time ago is
evident from the fact that they employ many idioms
which were going out of use in the time of Buddha.
There is no mention in Indian history of these far-off
lands, neither, so far as is known, did any considerable
Brahmin community ever adopt Islam. No matter bow
viewed, the subject is one of the most interesting puzzles
which has yet been found in the far East.

The SuluB are a dark-colored, muscular race, loving
warfare, piracy, and dangerous sports. They make in-
trepid [soldiers, and are more feared by the Spaniards

no MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

than any other Eastern type. One of their peculiarities
makes them a constant dread to their conquerors. This
consists of a man joining a religious society, and bind-
ing himself by an oath to reach paradise immediately
by killing as many Christians as he can before he him-
self is killed. The society has a name^ but it is un-
known to the Spaniards. They refer to the members as
the Juramentados, or those who are oath-bound. The
society, or societies, are directed by priests called Pan-
ditas, whose meaning can be recognized by its resem-
blance to pundita. These drill the members, and put
them through a regular course of training. They are
made to exercise, fight with blunted weapons run, jump,
climb, swim, and diye, and when tired they are told of
the beauties of Mohammed's paradise, of the houris, the
fruits, and the joys. When a member has reached a
stage which borders upon frenzy he is then sent upon
his mission. He usually goes naked or with a breech
cloth in whose folds he carries one or two short creeses,
sharp as a needle, and keen as a razor. The flutings on
the blade are often poisoned by immersion in decaying
animal blood. He enters the camp, ship,town, or bouse,
to which he is directed, and the moment he approaches
the first Christian his deadly work begins. The knife is
drawn, the breech cloth cast away, and with a spring
like a tiger, he is upon his victim. In his delirium he
seems to have the strength of ten men. He is never
overpowered, and he never stops his murderous career
until he is killed, or incapacitated by a serious wound.

On Corpus Christi day, in 1886, at Cotto Bato, four
Juramentados sprang from a shed into a crowd of Chris-
ians who were watching the procession, and before
they were killed by the soldiers, assassinated or wounded
over thirty persons. At Jolo, in 1876, one of these

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. ll 1

fanatics armed with a creese and a javelin, attacked a
company of soldiers as they marched from the beach to
the garrison, killing two, fatally wounding three> and
seriously wounding four of the force.

At the same place a few weeks afterward, a similar
sudden attack was made by three Juramentados, who
killed five and wounded sixteen before they could be
bayoneted by the troops.

It is a very nice question how to govern people of this
class. Across the strait at San Daken in Borneo, and
at Brunei, there are Mohammedans of the same race as
the Sulus, but thus far, they have never given any
trouble to the British. The authorities leave them alone
in their religious views, and the missionaries are advised
to use all possible tact in the evangelical dealinscs.
Whether the Islamites of Sulu would behave equally well
if treated with similar consideration is a debatable ques-
tion. One thing is certain, and that is that all forcible
attempts to infringe upon their religious rites will be
resisted unto death. The Spaniards have leai*ned wis-
dom by experience, and of late years have adopted the
practice of extermination whenever called upon to fur-
nish either religious or political outbreaks. From a
purely political point of view, there are only two ways
of governing these people. One is the system adopted
by England, in the Bombay presidency, and by Hongs
in Java of leaving the natives in full liberty to practice
all customs and religious observances which do not con-
flict with life or human safety, and the other is the Span-
ish system of exterminating all who do not agree with
you.

The Sulu Archipelago in Spanish political geography
begins on the southwest side of Basilan island, and runs
south westwardly to the northeastern coast of Borneo. It

llJ • MANILA AND THE I>HlLII>PlK^S.

is divided into the following groups : Salu, Tapnl^ Tawi
Tawi, and Panguitarang. The largest island is Salu,
the next is Tawi Tawiy the third ia Panguitarang, the
fourth is Siassi. Then come many small islands such as
Simonor, Bilatan, Mantabuan, Manubol, Lapao, liugus,
Pata Simisa, Gap, Lapran, Basang, Simaluo, Sigboy,
Bubuan, and many still smaller. The last Spanirib report
gives a hundred and fifty islands, of which ninety-five
are inhabited and several hundred islets or rocks. The
population is estimated at a hundred and twenty thou-
sand, but may be twice as much. As a matt r of Eng-
lish law the sultan exercises sovereignty of a qualified
sort over several Borneo sultans and according to Span-
ish law he exercises some feudal authority over the chiefs
of Palauan, Balabac, the Sultanate of Buhaten in Min-
danao, and over several small tribes on that island and on
the island of Basilan.

fc

MANILA AND THE PH1LIPPXNB& lit

CHAPTER XHL

SOME mSTOBICAL NOTES.

OwiN0^ doubtless, to the unimportant part they hare
played in the progress of modern civilization the Philip-
pines have been neglected by historians and soientiste
alike. The literature on the subject is comparativelsr
small. Even the leading works are manifestly ineom-
plete. The Spanish accounts are carelessly written, and
the figures a mass of inaccuracy. Be Bienzi's work iB
one of the best, and after him may be mentioned Profes-
sor 0. Semper's book, "De la Gironiere," and Henry
Forman's.

Much valuable information upon special topics has
been collated by American and British consuls, and pub-
lished in the blue books of those countries. To them,
the reader has referred for statistics and detailed facts.
The conclusions drawn by investigators in regard to the
early history of the islands are about as follows. The
original inhabitants were dark men of a negroid type
already differentiated into two varieties, one fierce and
destructive like the Andaman Islanders, and another
darker still, which is found to-day in the Negritos of
Mindanao. Either this primitive race lived there a long
time, or it was preceded by another race belonging to
the Stone age. At different points of the islands stone
axes, spear-heads^i and arrow-heads have been picked up
in considerable numbers. None of the existing tribe?

114 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

recognize them, or even have any name for them. One
tribe in Mindanao calls these ancient stone implements
''the teeth of the lightning."

As stone axes are called ''thunder bolts" in Java,
Sumatra and Malacca, it is probable that the Mindanao
people received the name from those Malay lands, or else
came from those lands themselves. At any rate, the
Philippines were populated in the Stone age. The
original race was probably quite populous. Middens
and shell heaps of great age have been found in various
parts of the territory, indicating the large number of
human beings living in the immediate neighborhood.
These were conquered when the islands were invaded by
a higher race, also black, coming from Borneo. This
race belonged to the same class as the Papuans, and has
many living representatives at the present time in all of
the larger islands.

There was probably the same process of war and ex-
termination at the time as had marked all such invasions.
The weaker inhabitants were slaughtered and eaten,
because all of these races were cannibals, and the sur-
vivors driven into the mountains in the interior. The
larger number of Negrito villages are found not on the
lowlands, but in the hilly districts. The Papuans did
not bold their newly conquered domains for many years
before they, in turn, were attacked by another and still
higher race, the Malay.

These Malays seemed to have borne the same relation
to the far East that the Norsemen did to the hosts of
Europe. Just as the latter, were not a homogeneous
people, but were made up of Danes, Norwegians, Swedes,
Finns, Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Frisians and Flemings, so
the Malay Sea Kings came from what is now Singapore,
Johore, Penang, Pahang, Acheen> eastern Sumatra, Java,

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 115

Borneo, and the lesser states and islands of Mala^'sia.
The Malays were and are daring navigators, brave war-
riors, and intelligent artificers, and even merchants.

Their boats were so well made as to undertake long
voyages successfully, and their weapons, more especially
the formidable creese, were about the best, and most
destructive, known in that part of the world. The
creese, by the way, is not a dagger, as is usually sup-
posed, but a cutting blade with a waved edge, and ribs
which strengthen without weighting the weapon. The
smallest creese is a minature dagger, and the largest is a
powerful sword. They also fastened the blades to poles
converting them into javelins and spears, and several
tribes attached them to short handles so as to convert
them into battle-axes. The Malays were victorious over
the Papuans, and drove them into the interior as the
latter had done with the Negritos. This must have
occurred many centuries ago. When the Mohammedan
wave reached this part of the world it found the
Philippines a well-settled Malay community. Further
back still the ancient records of Canton refer to them as
brown men like those in the strait. This would seem to
indicate that the Malay conquest of the Philippines
occurred in the early part of the Christian era. From
that time on the islands do not seem to have been invaded
until the arrival of the Spaniards in 1563. A commerce
sprang up between the Philippines and the Malay coun-
tries, then with China, and finally with Japan.

It is difiScult to tell what this commerce was in detail,
but there are illusions in old works to smoked meats,
smoked fish, sugar cane, hemp, fine wood, beche de la
mer, and gold. The Chinese exported iron, brass, china,
silk, and medicines. Mohamedanism, during its aggres-
sive state^ was carried ix)to the Philippines from Java

116 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

Borneo and Malaca. It made rapid progress^ and even
to-day the inhabitants of the Sulu Archipelago to the
south, a large part of the population of Mindanao, and
BeTeral hundred thousand souls in the rest of the islands,
retain that faith. Before the Spanish conquest, more
than two-thirds were Mohammedans, and the other third
were heathen and fetish worshipers. The islands were
discovered by that wonderful Portuguese navigator,
Magellan, who took possession of them in the name of
Spain.

Kot until 1563, however, was any real attempt made to
reduce the lands to possession. In that year the famous
General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi started to subjugate
the archipelago. He was eminently qualified for the
ofEice, and succeeded in both war and diplomacy in a
manner that will ever elicit admiration. He took posses-
sion of the Ladrones or Thieves islands, and next con-
quered Bohol and Cebu. In 1569 Panaj* was conquered,
and in 1571, Luzon, the land of the pestle, as the name
means in Malay, went under the Spanish yoke. The
Spaniards had a hard time at first. They were scarcely
laore than in possession of their new domain when they
found that they had invaded the rights of both the
Bmperor of China and the monarch of Japan. The
Japanese gave but little trouble, but the Chinese made
war with a vigor strongly in contrast with their perform-
ance in 1894. Between 1573 and 1575, no less than ten
attacks were made upon Manila by fleets from Canton
and Amoy, and although the Spaniards were victorious,
yet the loss on both sides were enormous. The greatest
victory of all was in 1574, when the Chinese general, Li
Mafa Ong, attacked the Spaniards with both navy and
army. The battle lasted several days, the Chinese fleet
W40 destroyed, one-half of the soldiers killed, and the rest

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 117

ehftsed into the mountains to both the north and south
of Manila. With characteristio Chinese philosophy the
fagitiyes aooepted the inevitable and settled in the fertile
Talleys far away in the interior. They made friends with
the natire tribes^ took wives from among the savages,
and started communities which are still flourishing at
the present moment.

Their descendants are scarcely distinguishable from
other Malays, but they, nevertheless, take deep pride in
their descent, and look down upon their neighbors as
beings of an inferior mold.

Those attacks of the Chinese aroused the vindictive
spirit of the Spanish settlers, who, from that time on,
treated the Mongolian with a cruelty and inhumanity
that have left indelible stains upon the Castillian records.
In 1603, for example, when the Chinese had settled near
Manila and built up a handsome and prosperous suburb,
the Spaniards attacked them and massacred man, woman
and child, amounting to twent3'-three thousand souls.

Twelve thousand escaped the slaughter and managed
io get back to China. In 1639 there was another mur-
derous wave in the Philippines, and the Spaniards
attacked the Chinese population and murdered about
thirty-five thousand in cold blood. In 1665 there was
another but smaller crusade against the luckless Mongol-
ian. In 1709 the cruel spirit was modified by some con-
sideration for humanity. Only a few hundred Chinamen
were killed, but the rest of the Chinese population was
deported, and it need hardly be added all their property
was confiscated and divided between the church and
state. 'Between 1628 and 1751 the Spaniards made nine
attempts to conquer the Sulu islands, but in every
instance were repulsed with heavy losses. In 1762 the
tables were turned^ and this time the Spaniards were

118 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

assailed. The inyaders were the Eoglish commanded by
General Draper. The Spaniards, reinforced by the
natives, made a brave but unskillful resistance, and were
slaughtered like sheep in the shambles. Manila was
taken and pillaged.

England would probably have taken the Philippines,
but the Spanish government at home becoming fright-
ened, sued for peace, and in the treaty which followed
Manila was restituted to Madrid. In 1820 the Filip-
pines had a erisis which almost destroyed ail civilization
in that part of the world. For the first time in its
history the territory was invaded by Asiatic cholera. It
began at Sanpaloc near Manila, spread to that city, and
thence went into every part of Luzon. The mortality
was frightful, over one-half of the population dying, it
is said, from the disease. In the height of the epidemie,
the ignorant Spaniards and natives suddenly adopted the
belief that the disease was a part of a wholesale plot to
poison on the part of foreigners.

The mob rose in every community and massacred first
the Chinese then the French, then the English and
Americans, and finally the Spaniards. They burned very
house which was not defended by the soldiery, robbed
every citizen and looted every building. In 1823 was
the famous revolt led by Novales and Buiz. It was
short but very fierce and bloodthirsty, and is said to have
cost the lives of five thousand people within a week.
Since that time the career of the Philippines has been
comparatively calm and quiet. There have been many
uprisings, riots and revolts, but each has been put down
with an iron hand. The policy of the government has
grown stronger and severer with the years, and now
adopts measures for the prevention of riot which are just
as merciless as those used in war.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 119

Wherever there has been the smallest uprising a gun-
boat or a company of soldiers has appeared promptly
upon the scene, and everyone involved or suspected has
been tried hy court-martial and promptly shot. The
Sulu archipelago was finally conquered, but has never
yet been pacified. It is under Spanish control vrhere
there are bayonets and rifles. Elsewhere it is still ruled
by the brave and warlike Mohammedan chiefs.

1^ MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE GOYEBNMEKT.

This chapter is intended for the people who like solid
facts, such as names, places^ and statistics, and may,
therefore, be skipped by all readers who do not care to
burden their memories with uninteresting details. The
government of the Philippines is of a dual character,
being military and civil on the part of the state, and
ecclesiastical on the part of the church. Nominally the
state governs, actually the church is the master. No
better illustration of the tendency of ecclesiastical insti-
tution to self-aggrandizement can be found than this
eastern archipelago. The church dignitaries control
the politicians in Madrid, they control the officials in the
Philippines, they own vast tracts of valuable territory,
and they have had the laws so framed as to make them-
selves members de jure of nearly every branch and bureau
of the colonial government. The nominal head of the
government is the governor-general and commander-in-
chief. The actual head is the Archbishop of Manila.

Under the governor-general there is a vice-governor-
general, a colonial secretary, two assistant secretaries,
and six secretary clerks. There is a chief officer of public
order, with a first and second deputy. There is a chief
interpreter who is supposed to be familiar with at least
four of the native languages, a chief interpreter of French
and English, and a chief interpreter of the Sulu Ian*

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 121

guage. The governor-general receives a salary of fortjr
thousand dollars a year and perquisites. There is an
executive council^ of which the chairman is the govemor-
general^ and the members the archbishop^ the naval com-
mander» the vice-governor, the president of the Supreme
Court, the superintendent of finance, the director of civil
administration, and the colonial treasurer. There is an
administrative council, which consists of the governor-
general as chairman, the commander of the stationvice-
chairman the archbishop, the bishops sufiEragan, the presi-
dent of the Manila court, the superintendent of finance,
the director of civil administration ; the registrar of the
Manila court, the magistrates of the Common Court, and
two members appointed by the government.

There is a finance committee of seven members, an
advisory committee of seven members, a legal department
of two members; a Supreme Court, consisting of a presi-
dent and four members, and a registrar. There is a Board
of Censors, consisting of the colonial treasurer as chair-
man, and four members, and a censor of the public press.
There are seventy-seven provinces which give employ-
ment to seventy-seven provincial governors, and a con-
vict settlement under an inspector-general. The gov-
ernor of a first class province receives four thousand ^Ye
hundred dollars a year and perquisites; of a second-class
province, four thousand a year and perquisites; and of a
third-class, three thousand five hundred and perquisites.
The island is also divided into military districts or pre-
cincts. The first division is into three parts, each com-
manded by a brigadier-general, to whom is allowed a
staff. These are subdivided into districts, of which the
head is a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, a major and a cap-
tain, according to their importance. The brigadier-gen-
eral Qt Mindanao receives seventeea thousand ei^rliit

122 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

hundred and twenty-five dollars salary ; the colonel of
JolOy seven thousand two hundred and forty dollars ; the
lieutenant-colonel of the West Carolines, four thousand
nine hundred; the major of Zamboanga, three thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-six dollars; the captain
of Concepcion, one thousand nine hundred and eighty
dollars.

There are four naval stations, of which the heads
receive from three thousand eight hundred dollars per
annum to six thousand nine hundred dollars. Under
these heads are all sorts of bureaus and ofSces. Some
are familiar to Americans, such as the custom house, tax
office, the treasury, the public works, and the army
building. Others are mysterious, such as the bureau of
woods and forests, of mountains, of rivers, of fishing, of
harbors, of tax farming, and of tax produce ; in fact, there
appears to be a bureau or an office for every conceivable
thing a government can do, and a great many for things
that government ought not to do, that a government can-
not do, but pretends to do.

This gives a great number of offices to the politicians,
and none is ever vacant. Many powerful politicians hold
three or four offices, of which the joint income and per-
quisites make a very large salary. Others hold offices
with a small salary, but enormous perquisites. No one
has ever been heard of that held a small office with a
small salary that was satisfied with his lot, or that did
not attempt to levy upon all people desirous of official
favors.

It is very difficult to make head or tail out of Spanish
finances. The Spaniards themselves cannot do it, and it
is therefore futile for outsiders to try the experiment.
A late budget gives the total of about five hundred thou-
sand dollars for salaries of heads of government per year^

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 123

and then deducts a hundred and seventy -five thousand
as belonging to army and navy estimates. In another
column it gives three hundred thousand dollars for army
and navy expenses^ and charges the remainder to the
general colonial account. The church organization is
headed by the archbishop, who has a staff consisting of
a secretary, three assistant secretaries, a vicar-general,
Iiromoter fiscal, and a notary. The archepiscopal chap-
ter consists of the dean, sub-dean, precentor, schoolmas-
ter, treasurer, canon-doctoral, canon-magistral, canon-
penitentiary, nine prebendaries, a master of ceremonies,
a succentor, and a sacristan. There are bishops in
charge of the Episcopal districts of Cebu, Nueva Caceres,
Jaro, and Nueva Segovia. To each bishopric is assigned
a vicar-general, a secretary and clerks, a college with a
rector or director with ecclesiastical professors ranging
from four to ten in number, and in some of the districts
special institutions in charge of church officials. There
are eight religious orders : the Augustine, Dominican,
Becollet, Franciscan, Capuchin, the Jesuit St. Yinoent de
Paul, and the Daughters of Charity. Each has its pro-
vincial or superior, and each conducts convents or mon-
asteries, of which there are nearly thirty in all the
islands.

The Supreme Court has a general president, a civil
president, four civil magistrates, a criminal president,
and four criminal magistrates; a fiscal agent, four advo-
cates, a chief secretary, a college of notaries, with doyen
and two censors, and a college of advocates, with a doyen
and two deputies. There is also the finance department,
with a superintendent, assistant superintendent, chief in-
spector and assistant inspector. There is a council of
finance consisting of ten members of whom one is the
administrator of lotteries. GRiere is a tariff committee

124 MANILA AND THK 1>HILIPPINES.

with nineteen membersy a Board of Eduoatioii oonaiiting
of the governor-general^ the archbishop^ the reverend
president of St. John's College, and the provineial of the
Eecollet Friars. There is a university oonduoted by
friars and a Municipal Atheneum under the same super-
vision. Under the public works department there are
bureaus of inspection, engineering, architecture, forests,
mines, lands, agriculture, farms, manufactures, commerce,
weather-observatory and harbor, and for the Province of
Manila a Prison Board of Health, Police Board, and a
department of pawnshops and savings banks, of which
our good friend, the archbishop, is the president.

It will be noticed that the church holds a large and
often a controlling part, in nearly every government func-
tion. It participates in the making of the law and the
execution of the law, in the finances of the state, and in
education. It has chaplains in the regiments and on
the warships, and it has almost complete control of its
own finances and of the finances which it secures through
the ageney of the state.

The cost of running this machine is about ten millions
of dollars a year. The revenue of the government, which
is always to leave a sorplns, invariably produces a defi-
ciency varying from one to more than two millions a
year. Thus iSbe eokmy is always in debt, and is worse
off at the present time than it has ever been before.

The budget tells a pitiful story of the way in which the
finances are managed. Everyone has to pay a poll tax,
and a special tax upon the poll tax. Every Chinaman
pays a special tax and a second tax upon the first. The
opium concession brings in a half-million dollars a year ;
storekeepers' and peddlers' licenses over a million a year;
lotteries a net profit of a half-million a year. This is
bad enoagh^ but there are other entries showing absolute

MANILA AND TH£ PHILIPPINES. US

imbeoiliiy. Thus, the Bureau of Inspection of Woods and
Forests is conducted by a chief inspector, with a salary
of six thousand Btc hundred dollars, and a staff of one
hundred and sixteen assistants and surbordinates. The
total cost is one hundred and sixty-five thousand nine
hundred and sixty dollars, while the anticipated duties
on felled timber which pays this account is about eighty
thousand dollars. As a matter of fact the receipts of the
department are usually about sixty-five thousand dollars,
and the expenses about one hundred and eighty thousand
dollars, so that there is an annual deficiency of about one
hundred thousand dollars a 3''ear. The subordinates of
the department receive poor pay, many not getting more
than five hundred dollars a 3'ear. They make up for it
by corrupt deals with everyone in the business. Thus
for a reasonable consideration they will mark first quality
eigh teen-inch timber damaged fifteen inch, a jam of five
hundred logs becomes three hundred and seventeen logs,
an entire consignment of new timber will be checked off
as being the preceding year's output already paid for.
Each and every item will be falsified, so that the official
returns are always far from the truth. Still more cruel
and corrupt is the system of taxing in produce and not
in money.

The official assesses the tax in money, adding to it in-
terest and fees for giving a receipt and also for sealing
the receipt. He then takes from the poor native at an
official valuation, enought rice, maize, or other produce,
to equal the amount called for in the bill. Sometimes
he uses false measures, fifty per cent, larger than what
they ought to be. He then ships the produce to the
market on a government steamer on his own individual
account, getting sometimes three, four and five times
the amount he pays over to the government. One official

126 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

in Mindanao, who had a salary of forty-fiye dollars a
month, retired at the end of four years with a fortune of
sixty thousand dollars whioh he had made in this way.
Several of the provincial governors have realized during
their tenure of ofiSce a quarter of a million, and with the
exception of Governor-General Blanco, who enjoyed the
unique distinction of being called the only honest gover-
nor-general the Philippines ever knew, not one governor-
general has retired from office without being an enor-
mously rich man. The saddest feature of officialdom is
the hopelessness of reform. In Manila society a favorite
subject of conversation is the amount of wealth accum-
ulated by this or that official. If he has made little he
is laughed at, if much he is lauded and admired; but
there is never a word of deprecation or indignation.
Another illustration is found in the evasion of the law
which prescribes that every male adult shall give the
state fifteen days' labor per annum or redeem it by a pay-
ment of money. As a matter of fact only the needy who
cannot spare the money do the work demanded by law,
nevertheless the returns show that soaroeb* one penny is
received for the forced labor, and that everybody has put
in his fifteen days. Labor is supposed to be expended
upon roads, sewers, canals, bridges, and clearing the
wilderness. With the exception of the few roads, how-
ever, which are kept in good condition by the farmers
and business men, there are no thoroughfares worth men-
tioning. The canals are in many instances so blocked as
to be unuseable, none of the public lands have been
cleared, and what few bridges have been put or kept in
repair can be counted upon the fingers of the two hands,
and in all of these cases it has been done bj* private en-
terprise and not by public authority. But an immense
amount of forced labor has been diverted to private pur-

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MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 127

poses. Officials have had their establishments repaired
and embellished in this manner, some even have had their
plantations worked the year through by these paupers of
the state. The late experience of Admiral Dewey at
Manila shows that the same corruption had permeated
the most sacred duties of citizenship, and that the
arsenals, navies, and forts of the Philippines had been
utilized by the gOTeming classes as an efficient mechan-
ism for amassing an inquitous fortune.

128 KIANILA AND THE P&ILit>iPIN£S.

CHAPTER XV:

THE PHIUFPINB NXWBPAPZB WOBLD.

To an Aznerioan aocusiomed to the newspaper system
of his home, ^ith its world-wide news servioe, its noble
literary and soientifio features, its grasp of politics, local,
national, and international, the newspapers of the Philip-
pines present a curious spectacle. They are not very
numerous, there being seven in Manila, two in Iloilo,
and one in Cebu. At Manila two of the journals are
published in the morning : El Diario de Manila, and La
Oceania Espaflola, and four in the evening, El Comercio
La Voz Espaflola (formerly called La Voz de Espana), El
Espaftol and El Noticero, There is a bi-weekly called
La Opinion, whose appearances are as mysterious as
those of a comet. There was another paper. La Corre-
spondencia de Manila, which was based upon the Lucus a
non lucendo principle. It published a few notes, an in-
terminable novel, and finally died from paralysis of its
circulation. The best of the papers is El Diario,

At Iloilo are two journals, El Porvenir Bisayaa
and El Echo de Panay. The little journal of Cebu is
entitled El Boletin de Cebu, These publications are all
of the same type, and the type is a curious one. Nomi-
nally they print and purvey news, actual news is the
very last thing to which they pay any attention. Nearly
if not quite all enjoy subventions from the government,
and it is needless to remark that they are vigorous sup-

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 129

porters of the administration. The more prosperous
have subventions from the church. These subventions
alone support the papers and pay a neat profit. The
subscriptions and advertisements serve to increase the
revenue. The paper is made in Spain, and is a good
and durable tissue. It ^ears better than the cheap wood
pulp paper upon which most American journals are
printed, but it is poorly made and poorly finished.
The surface is rough and the thickness of each sheet not
uniform. The result is that the printing is wretched.
At some points the ink spreads and looks blurred, at
other points it just touches the paper, and makes but a
faint impression, while every now and then either a type
is broken, or the ink does not touch at all, so that the
reader is compelled to supply the necessary letter or
letters. Each journal conducts a serial story usually
printed across the lower half of the page, and one or
more short stories, all of which are carefully cissored
from Spanish or South American publications. When
they want to make a big hit they translate a new French
novel. The exertion of this operation is so great that it
is hard to say who are the more astonished, the editors
of the paper or its readers. There are several columns
of official and hierarchical news which are as dreary as
can be imagined, a lot of short notes and paragraphs, a
number^f jokes chiefly time-honored, and a few bits of
what by courtesy may be called news.

Every now and then there are fierce editorials in which
some attack from a foreign paper is resented, and the
abuse attacked is held up as a marvel of human wisdom
and statesmanship. These articles were quite numerous.

At the beginning of the present war between Spain
and the United States, and also at the time of the prose-
cution of Dr. Bizal, during the Philippine insurrection

130 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

of 1896-97. Those editorials translated into English
would make about as funny a book as Mark Twain's
"Innocents Abroad." They display an ignorance ren-
dered all the more offensive by incomplete knowledge
and arrogance, and intolerance inexplicable to an Ameri-
can mind. Thus, for example, Dr. Bizal was a man of
blameless life, a sincere patriot whose only fault was a
desire to better the social and political conditions of the
Philippines. He was wise and politic, and never alluded
to the hideous scandals which constitute the chief staple
of conversation in that part of the world. The only
mention he ever made of these things was when in argu-
ing for various reforms he declared that thoughtful legis-
lation would put an end to many evils, which, under the
present regime seemed incurable. This modest state-
ment was seized upon as an evidence of high treason,
and was one of the specifications in the charges brought
against him for which he was executed in December 1896.
The journals in commenting upon his appeal for better
government took the ground, not only that he was a
traitor, but that he was bribed by heretical churches, or
British statesmen ; that the government of the Philip-
pines was a model which was bound to be adopted in
due course of time by every nation possessing colonies;
that prosperity and thrift prevailed in the islands to an
unequaled extent, and that the natives were treated
with greater consideration than they deserved. About
that time, it may have been the same day, there was a
paragraph in several of the journals which was an elo-
quent commentary upon the editorials. It read about as
follows: A number of natives in the Province of Panay,
upon the pretext that a priest had punished . several
female domestics with greater severity than was proper,
entered into a seditious conspiracy with the avowed

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 131

object of killing the occupant of the holy of&ce. News
was promptly dispatched to the commandant of the near-
est garrison, who sent a company of soldiers in response
to the request. The natives gathering with intent to
assault the soldiers, the latter thinking prevention better
than cure, fired upon them, killing and wounding nearly
all the members of the mob. The rest Oed to the interior,
but will probably be captured and dealt with summarily. "

But it is in comparing Spain with other countries that
the Philippine editor displays his highest genius. It
was Spain which discovered the New "World, and, there-
fore, everything done in its countries is to be charged to
the credit of the discoverer. It was Charles V. who once
ruled over nearly all of Europe to illustrate what Spanish
soldiers can do when they so desire, and what at any
time Spain may do again when the humor takes her. It
was the Spanish navy which conquered the French, and
not their vainglorious British allies under Nelson. It
was the Spanish army that drove Napoleon across the
Pyrenees, although a British braggart named Welling-
ton tried to steal the credit for himself. Spain lost her
colonies, although her armies had crushed the insurgents
in each state and province, because she could not bring
herself to refuse the sacred voice of Eome, which implored
her to desist from further bloodshed.

There is something pitiful in such exhibitions of
humor, vanity, and moral weakness. The desire to pose
and strut with a feather in the bonnet, although the
clothing is in rags; to drag a huge broadsword, which
the aged owner can no longer wield, to bear a book
which weakened eyes can no longer read, and to sing
heroic war songs in a cracked and senile falsetto, is
about the saddest thing in life.

As for news proper the Philippine editor regards it not

133 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

only as a bore, but as an impertinence. It may be qnes-
tioned if any newspaper in the Philippines has as yet
ohronicled any of the discoyeries of Dewar, Bayleigh,
Bamsay, Lister, Edison, Tesla, Maxim, Roentgen, Koch^
Thomas Westinghouse, or other great inventors or dis-
coverers whose works have revolutionized modern life.
It may be questioned if they have published the political
changes from time to time, in France, Germany, Great
Britain, or the United States. It may be denied in ad-
vance, without the least knowledge on the subject, that
they they have read, or heard of any new writer in either
German, Butisian, or English. As for such events as
Nansen's and Peary's magnificent voyages, Cecil Bhodes,
civilizing a continent, the invention of the electric rail-
way; the manufacture of aluminum, nickel steel, and
Harvey steel, probably not a syllable has appeared in the
journals mentioned.

Their atmosphere is a servile imitation, and an inferior
one at that, of the atmosphere of their home country.
Its courtesy and fine breeding, make it all the more re-
pulsive to readers brought up in other lands. Yet these
very qualities produce very humorous situations. Prior
to the revolution in Spain which brought about the
Spanish republic, favorite topic for the Manila editor
was the monstrosity of British democracy and American
republicanism. When the Castelar movement succeeded,
the Philippine press is said to have suspended issue for
two days, and then it came out for the glorification of
the rights of man and an eulogy of government of the
people, by the people, and for the people. For at least
a month their republicanism would have done credit to
one of the old Bomans. When the monarchy was re-
stored there was another intellectual fit, during which all
the filet and book numbers were either concealed or de-

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 133

stroked and a new series of editorials, denouncing the
former opinions were evolyed in the various sanctums.
It is impossible to get in Manila a copy of an^^ paper
published during the fortnight after the news was re-
ceived of the establishment of a republic in Spain.

The circulation of the papers is small, the average
Spaniard cannot read and write, the ratio of illiteracy
being greater in the Philippines than in Spain.

In Spain the ratio is about seventy per cent., in the
Philippines it is about ninety-nine per cent. No more
significant commentary upon the colonial administration
cotild be adduced.

134 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE NATIVES.

While the Malays of the PhilippiDes belong to the same
race as those of Java, Sumatra, and the Malay penin-
sula, they have in the course of three centuries been
changed partly by their surroundings and partly hy
Spanish rule. The tendency of the climate is against
exertion. It is never cold, so that the weak as well as the
strong can sleep out of doors the year through. There
are no ferocious carnivora, so there is no necessity for
organized resistance to a common enemy. The soil is
unspeakably fertile, and under natural conditions would
supply a population twice as large with all the food it
required. These influences tend, no matter what the
form of government might be, toward creating a love for
ease and idleness. The Spanish rule on the other hand
has only one aim, and that the acquisition of the largest
possible revenue. The result is an artificial necessity to
work. The average native must work or starve. If he
resists he is treated as a malefactor — if he runs away as
an outlaw. When laws become too severe men become
hypocrites and liars. These truths are evidenced by the
character of the Philippine native, and explain many
seeming paradoxes. A man makes a faithful and efficient
employee, but at any time he is liable to stop working
and to loaf for a year or two, especially if he can secure a
supply of food during that period. And a very good

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 136

employee does this little Philippine Malay make. He is
hired on nearly every steamship in the far East in the
role of quartermaster, and other minor positions, and
always gives satisfaction. On many oooasions these
Manilamen (as they are termed) have displayed high
fortitude, self-oontrol, and even heroism. There were
some on the ill-fated steamer Bokhara when she went
down off the Pescadores, and they, with the officers,
were the last to leave their posts. There were some on
the steamship Namoa when she was captured by the
pirates in 1890, and they behaved with the same courage
as the English officers. The Chinese, who are keen
judges of human character, say of the European that he
is a white devil, and of the Malay that he is a brown one,
which, under the circumstances, may be regarded as a
high compliment. The Spaniards, who judge all other
people by analogy, have never been able to understand
their brown subjects. One Spanish writer who lived
many j^ears in Luzon, not far from Manila, said that the
native was incomprehensible, that the mechanism of his
thought, that the motives of his actions were an heir-
loom from chaos, or else the inspiration of the Evil One.
A philologist calls attention to the fact that in all of the
Malay languages of the Philippines there are no words
for saying ''thank you," and that the word which kneans
honest in several dialects also means simple, youthful or
puerile in others. In regard to truth they do not hesi-
tate to lie, and even when found out show no shame or
mortification. In this respect they are very much like ^
their next door neighbors, the Chinese lower classes.
The author had a friend at Amoy, China, who had a very
faithful and efficient servant. One day the latter came
to his master weeping and asked permission to leave him
for two days, as his mother was dead* The permission

136 , MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

vf&B given without hesitation. The next year, to ilie
master's surprise, there ^as the same request, with simi-
lar weeping. He said nothing, but gave the servant the
desired leave of absence. This went on for four years,
until the master grew tired. On the last occasion he
looked at the servant and said sharply : ''What do you
mean? Your mother died last year and the year before
that. She's died regularly for five years past." The
servant nodded his head in acquiescence, and replied :
"Yes, master, the same old dead." Their moral code
has many odd features. They rarely steal, and even
when they do steal it is to gratify some pressing want,
yet even here they do not seem to differentiate between
one kind of want and another. A man who takes a loaf
of bread because he is starving, a man who takes a jewel
and pawns it wherewith to buy opium when he is suffer-
ing for a smoke, and a man who steals money wherewith
to buy a good suit in which to attend a religious festival,
are all put in the same category. In each case, to the
native mind, the wrongdoer was the victim of necesBit3\
The Tagal is as mercurial and talkative as the proverb-
ial Frenchman, while a Yisaya is a stoic who would have
been approved by Zeno himself. Though nominally
Christians, they preserve their ancient superstitions
almost unmodified. They believe in devils, in magic, in
charms, and in luck. A terrible commentary upon
Spanish rule is found in the simple word "Castila." Its
primary meaning upon the face is an inhabitant of
Castile. Its other meanings are Spaniard, European,
white man, enemy and devil. The word is a small
history condensed to seven letters. The native has one
well developed virtue — he is fond of both wife and
children. In their defense he is as brave as a lion, and
as eunning as a serpent. The warm attachment we oaU

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 137

friendship is almost unknown to him. The friend of
to-day is forgotten to-morrow, and the friend of to-mor-
row is dropped in a single hour for a newcomer. He
possesses but little humor, but enjoys simple practical
jokes and the tricks and antics which pertain to child-
hood and monke^^hood. He thinks it wrong to pass
between you and the sun. The casting of one's shadow
upon another person is apt to produce mysterious and
terrible results. More unpardonable still is to step over
a person, sick or well, wounded or whole, asleep or awake.
It is worst of all when the person is asleep. The reason
of this odd belief is that when a person is lying down
the soul may escape from the body, and that when a per-
son is asleep or in a faint that the soul has left the body,
and is traveling in another world. To step over a wak-
ing person may frighten the soul out of a body, to step
over a sleeping person may prevent the soul returning to
its carnal home. The Malay's code of morals is both
strict and lax. The husband is profoundly jealous of his
wife and solicitous as to her honor, but he manifests no
interest whatever in her morals before marriage, or in
the morals of his daughters. This appears to be com-
mon to many races in the East. A similar state of affairs
exists in Japan, and in both Java and Sumatra. In
their social relation there appears to survive an ancient
family or patriarchal system. The oldest member of a
house is obeyed by sons and grandsons, even though
they be far stronger and more stalwart, and it is not
uncommon for elders to give a sound flogging to young
men of their clan as well as their family. A man is
bound to help a brother, cousin, and even distant cousin
upon the score of kinship. Thus every wealthy or well-
to-do native family has any number of hangers-on who
are treated, not as objects of charity, but as persons hav-

138 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

ing a right to food, clothing, lodging and amusemeni
In native communities troubles and dissensions are sub-
mitted to the elders, who adjudicate upon them, and
usually display much common sense and equity in their
judgments. In other matters there is no uniformity of
characteristics. The natives are hospitable — some from
generosity, some from custom, some from fear, and some
from avarice.

The Spanish residents declare the northern tribes,
especially the Tagals, to be much better in these matters
than the southern ones, such as the Yisayas and Sulus.
In religious matters the northern tribes display little or
no deep feeling and none of the intense conviction vtrhich
marks ignorant Protestants and Catholics. The southern
trioes are different in this regard. The Sulus and the
people of Mindanao, who are Mohammedans, display
almost as much ferocity and fanaticism as their co-reli-
gionists, the Arabs of Asia and the Hovendovas of Africa.

The v^omen are passionately fond of jewelry and dis-
play, and will go to any length to secure the means for
gratifying their wishes in this regard. Every attractive
piece of female ornament receives the greatest care and is
transmitted by mothers to their children generation after
generation.

While the natives are cruel it may be doubted if they
are one whit worse than their conquerors. In warfare
they do not sin on the side of mercy, neither does any
other savage or half savage race. Neither do all the civ-
ilized races. It was not two years since the Spaniards
themselves deliberately put over one hundred luckless
revolutionists in the black hole at Manila where they
were smothered by foul air before morning, and in May
of this year the Spanish officers in Manila declared that
they would put in the same hideous dungeon every

MANILA AND tllE PHILIPPINES. 13&

Amerioan whom they captured. The Malays are kind to
animals. It may not be a true compassion^ it may be
indifference^ but no Malay ever invented bull fighting^
oook fighting, and the abominable sport of stallion fight-
ing — all of which are cultivated by the Spaniards in the
Philippines upon a large scale. Neither does the Malay
care for sport. If he kills fish, fiesh or fowl, it is because
he is hungry and intends to eat what he captures. The
civilized idea of sport, of killing animals for the sake of
enjoying fine marksmanship, could not be understood by
the Malay intelligence. What cruelty previously existed
in the Malay character cannot have been very large, else
the training and experience he has had for three cen-
turies would have made him a fiend incarnate.

The native is remarkable brave. He will calmly scale
a cliff where a single misstep would cause his being
dashed to pieces, he will plunge into the sea from the
side of his craft, and with a keen-edged creese attack a
neighboring shark. He has been known by English
sportsmen to attack the dreaded cayman in the same
manner, and to go into a boa's den armed only with a
torch and knife. To the native mind audacity and reck-
lessness are the highest virtues. Spanish control of the
Philippines has been based for three centuries upon the
feeling in the native mind that the Spaniard was irresist-
ible and invincible. The defeat of Montejo and Augusti
in Manila Ba}** has shattered Spanish dominion forever.

If every United States soldier were taken away from
the Philippines, and a Spanish army of one hundred
thousand landed upon its shores, it would never again
reduce the natives to subjection.

140 MANILA AND tHE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER XVn.

SOME NATIVE INDUSTRIES.

The little brown men are industrious in spite of the
utter lack of encouragement from the government, and
the burdensome taxation whioh clogs every wheel of
social and industrial life. Many of their industries are
very ancient, especially those involving spinning and
weaving, and the utilization and manufacture of sea
shells into useful or ornamental articles. So strong is
Chinese influence throughout this land, that it is very
difficult to determine how far these industries are in-
digenous, and how far they have been taught by the
patient Monoglian to his less civilized brother and
neighbor. There is one good thing about John China-
man. Wherever he settles he carries his industry with
him. He believes in the gospel of labor, and is a mis-
sionary in its behalf. In all those countries in which he
has settled, and there are inferior races, he has tried to
teach them some calling by which both scholar and
teacher could reap a profit. In Formosa for an illustra-
tion, John Chinaman taught the Hakka and the Malay
Autochthones how to extract camphor, and camphor oil,
from the camphor wood, and how to make grass cloth.

At Singapore he has built up many industries in which
some of his best workmen are Malays from that part
of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. In the Philippines we
know that he taught the Malay to gather and prepare the

Manila and the Philippines^ 141

edible birds* nesia, the shark's fin andtidl, ihebechede la
mer. So, therefore, when it Is claimed on his behalf that
he introduced into Luzon and the other islands many
of the leading native industries, the probabilities strong-
ly favor the claim. The most important of these indus-
tries from a commercial point of view is the manufacture
of those beautiful tissues, pina or pineapple cloth made
from the fibre of that plant, jusi which is a variety of
silk weaving and grass cloth, which is similar but inferior
to that of Swatow. All three cloths are known and high-
ly appreciated by American women. Pineapple cloth
has the brilliancy and strength of silk, and also the
translucency and rigidity which make it extremely val-
uable for woman's apparel. The making of the cloth is
not a very complicated process. The leaves are selected
at certain periods determined by the trade, and are
rotted both under water and in the sun. This is done
partly to separate the long threads from the cellulose and
lignose fibre, and also to free the threads from gum, sap,
or foreign matter. These threads or hairs are very fine,
and in color vary from white to yellowish white, and
grayish white. They are sponged by the native women,
and then woven upon a simple hand loom which bears a
strong resemblance to the loom used by the Chinese in the
Swatow and Chow Chow Foo districts. As the industry
is taxed and each loom is taxed, the natives have neither
the disposition nor the capital to buy the more expensive
and more efficient weaving machinery of the civilized
nations. Neither have they learned the principles which
have made Jacquard famous nor those which have been
evolved by native weavers in India and China. Even
under their present disadvantages they do a large busi-
ness and supply great quatities of pina to both the
l^hilippine and foreign markets. There is still a demand

142 MANILA ANt) THfi PttlLlt>PlK£S.

among the natives for the ourious patterns of which the
Sarong pattern of Java is a good type. These ourious
patterns apparently belong to the Malay race. They
may be described as geometrical styles in which older
conventionalisms have been still futher conventionalized
until they have lost their symbolic character, and have
become merely graceful, or odd shapes and outlines. In
confirmation of this view it may be noticed that some of
them employ a lattice work, and the symbolic crosses
know as Svastika which are found in Bengal; others em-
ploy a figure similar to the palm leaf, and the roughb**
sketched lion of Persia. A third is an imitation of, or a
suggestion from, the bamboo and willow patterns of
Japan. Another reproduces the giant centipede of the
tropics, representing the body by a long rectangle with
beveled ends, and the legs by hundreds of short parallel
lines, on either side of the longer axis of the figure.

Being reduced in size the line of legs looks like a mere
fringe, and this in turn is applied to figures which have
no similarity to the centipede. Thus, a circular figure
said to be a cocoanut has a fringe or whiskers, as irrev-
erent critics term it, running completely around it. An-
other figure looks like a modified bishop's miter. This
is decorated with several rows of fringe. The patterns
are printed from blocks, and worked in by hand. The
Philippine designers cannot be mentioned in the same
breath with the Javanese. The latter go so far as to
weave historical stories into their cloths, while the former
content themselves with a limited number of geometrical
designs.

When it comes to the shell industries the traveler
enters a new and beautiful industrial world. Here the
patient little brown man of the far East can take pride in
his achievement. Nature has given him a marvelosu

/

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES 143

ttorehoase from which to draw his materials. There
are oyster shells of many species^ nearly all of which are
utilized. Some are perfectly' flat, and can be wrought
into sheets or planes, others are deep and large, big
enough in many cases to make a giant punchbowl. The
sea concha are numerous^ and widely varied in outline
and color. There are scores of other species marked by
a rich and lustrous nacre.

And then comes an unending multitude of little shells
some no larger than children's glass beads. In the shell
industries live shell is used to the exclusion of dead shell
excepting where a species is very scarce, in which case the
dead shell is used although it does not bring the price of
the live. To those who do not know the distinction
between the two, the explanation is that live shell means
the shell of the living animal, and dead shell the shell of
the dead animal. The live animals is caught and ac-
cording to the nature of the shell it is killed by being
thrown into boiling water or by the attacks of land
animals such as antn, fowl, rats or else it is cut out by a
workman with a knife or else it is buried and allowed to
decay. When the animal has been removed the shell is
out at an oblique angle to its axis. Some of the artisans
employ a saw and others use a clumsy grindstone, cutting
it at one angle produces a shape whose general outline is
that of a lop-sided dumb bell. This is trimmed down
until it becomes a spoon. According to the size of the
shell or the part cut, the finished product may be a tea-
spoon dessert spoon, soup spoon ladle, a salt measurer, or
an ice-cream server. The bowl is of a bright golden color
with a high luster, and the outside is pearl color, gray,
pink or gold or else a pretty combination or mottle of all
these tints. Despite the large amount of labor required
these spoons are very cheap. A set of soup spoons can

144 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

be bought from a nativo maker for twelve cents a dozen,
and the teaspoons for ono half that amount. While inr
ferior in strength to metal the shell is much stronger
than china or porcelain, aud is more durable and attract
tive than wood. It does not absorb grease when used at
the table, and is not injured by soap in washing.

Sea Gouchs of tho same genus, but of different species,
are treated in the same manner, and yield handsome
bowls, tureens, vegetable dishes, cups, saucers, plates,
pin boxes, jewel-cases, card receivers, ash cups,
tobacco jars, and other curved receptacles. According
to the shell employed, the interior is rose, pink, gold,
amber, or pearl, in color. At times these beautiful orna«
ments are mounted with cheap silver frames, or in
pewter, which is sent over from Swatow. An ingenious
trade carried on upon quite an extensive basis is founded
on the utilization of the secreting power of the Philippine
fresh water mussel. This mussel excels even the oyster
in the quantity though not the quality of the liquor
which, by evaporation or separation, produces mother of
pearl. The Chinese are masters of the art, while the
Malays have proven docile pupils. The commonest thing
is the production of pearl which is secured by putting
{Trains of sand or circular fragments of shell, or of mother
of pearl into the mussel where it is covered with the
pearly coating in a week, and where at the end of several
months it has become a seeming pearl although of poor
quality. Another trick is the enlargement of the small
pearls, and the improvement of discolored and unshapely
ones. This takes a longer period, but is accomplished
without much exertion. Little figures in kaolin well
burned, but not glazed, or disks of kaolin on which has
been engraved a face or a character, are put into the shell
of the luckless mussel, and kept there until they are also

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 146

covered with a fine pearly ooat. Most ingenious of all
is the artifice of fastening to the lower shell of the mussel
a little figure of a god, a Svastika, or other symbolio
3haraoter, and there letting it remain for many months.
The growth of the shell raises the surface, and finally*
when it has reached the level of the object fastened, this
is removed leaving in the shell a perfect oast of all its
lines and surfaces. The mussel is then destroyed, and
the shell sold to the superstitious, especially to Buddh-
ists, and to Mohammedans, the former reverencing the
excellent reproduction of the figure of the great Indian
prince, and the latter believing in the occult virtues of
the Svastika.

An industry which gives employment to many thousands
is based upon oyster shells, of which two kinds are the
most important. One is the fiat Manila oyster, which,
as an American lady said, starts in life resembling a dime,
and winds up looking like a pieplate, and the giant
Philippine oyster, which is like the big bivalve of our own
Pacific coast. The shell of each kind contains more
nacre than any belonging to the American continent. It
has a high luster, and remarkable cohesive strength. It
laminates slightly and cleaves with facility. It contains
very little grit, so that it can be readily cut with a saw,
and ground with an ordinary grindstone. These shells
are first caught by professional gatherers, who sell the
meat to natives and Chinese, but not to Europeans; the
latter find the flavor unpleasant, and also have a belief
that the animals are more or less poisonous. The natives
however, prepare them in many ways and pronounce them
a good food. The Manila shells are then split, and
out into small squares, and other regular shapes, and are
used as substitutes for glass in window frames. When
well out and ground they shut out about one-half of the

146 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES,

light, and give the other half a mild irridesoence which
is extremely beautiful. Beside shutting out half the light
they have the quality of mica in shutting out all heat.
They are poor nonconductors, and thus a window, whose
panes are made of ground oyster shells, keeps a room in
a half gloom like twilight, and even alongside of the win-
dow itself in the hottest day in summer, the heat is no
greater there than in any other part of the place. When
the finest quality of shell is employed the irridescenoe is
more marked, and the display more admirable. Occa-
sionally a pane, or an entire window, is encountered
through which the sunlight comes as if through massive
opals.

Two whiter varieties of the Manila shells are cut into
what the Orientals regard as graceful or artistic shapes.
Among the forms are the palette, the water lily leaf, the
pain) leaf* the egg, the horseshoe curve, the spear head,
the shield, both round and triangular, the lozenge, the
lotus leaf, and lotus petal, the outline of a dome and the
outline of a typical Chinese house. The surface on both
sides is treated with the greatest care so as to have each
a natural cleavage bed or layer of growth or else it is cut
BO as to bring out the largest amount of irridescence.
Upon one aide are then engraved in low or high relief the
figures of animals, fishes, birds or men, castles, mountains
scenery both landscape and waterscape, until the plate
becomes a very handsome sketch or picture in relief.

Looked at at right angles the picture is hardly visible,
but when examined by a reflected light, or when looked
at obliquely, the design comes out clearly and with a
play of delicate rainbow tints that is simply delightful.
Much secrecy io observed by dealers in these goods.
But according to rumor the finishing of the shell is done
bj the Malays^ who also make the rougher and cheaper

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 147

drawings or the beginnings of the good drawings. The
better drawings and the finishing stages of the poor
drawings are made by Chinese artificers in Manila, while
the handsomest and most elaborate are made by a guild
of sculptors or engravers in Canton, China.

None of the fragments which can be possibly utilized
are wasted. Many pieces are cut into images, dolls and
figurettes. Smaller fragments are cut into beads or into
the cheapest kind of jewelry for the working classes of
the far East. A neat necklace of these shell beads can
be purchased for a few cents. Very large oyster shells
are made into objects of commerce by a rough treatment
which cleans the outside, leaving it rough in texture and
grayish in color, looking like a fine gray sandstone, and
of polishing the rough places in the interior until they
are almost as smooth and lustrous as the rest of the shell.
These are exported as South Sea curios to Europe and
Asia. Europeans in all the lands from Japan to India
use them as punch bowls, umbrella stands, and ornaments
for either side of the fireplace. Another pretty way of
employing them is to fill them with water and making
them into an aquarium by having a few marine plants
and some fishes. The demand from foreign lands for
these shells extend to all which are more than an inch in
length. Only the poorer qualities are sent away in bulk.
These are sold by the bushel and barrel, and are fre-
quently attainable in the open market at such ridiculous
prices as forty and fifty cents a barrel. A third great
class included the exquisite shells known as cowries. Of
these there are over eighty species in the waters about the
islands. The tortoise-shell cowrie, which is the favorite
ornament of the New England mantelpiece, is here found
in its finest development. Here also are the golden
cowries, the rose cowries, the pearl cowries, the ^i^

148 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

cowries, and the other beautiful styles so loved by all
students of conchology.

The shells of several bivalves are employed to make oat's-
eyes for the blue and white kinds. These are sold at
retail to credulous globe trotters as genuine gems. They
look very much like the originals, and when freshly cut
and polished are more beautiful. The selling price of
these pretty frauds with the unwary is two dollars apiece,
put the native dealers quickly drop in their demands
until they reach twelve cents. Here they quarrel if a
further reduction is insisted upon, so that the value or
cost may be estimated at about four cents. These bogus
cat's-eyes are found as far to the northeast as Yokohama,
and as far south as Australia, and as far west as Alexan-
dria, Egypt. In this way the benevolent humbug of the
Philippines comes in touch with a very large part of the
civilized world. The oddest industry in regard to shells
is the making of shell figures. The basis is a rough
model of the finished article, made of clay, of baked clay,
plaster paris, or even wood. The entire exterior is made
of shells or fragments of shells of all colors and kinds
which are applied to the model with strong glue or an
adhesive paste or cement. It is marvelous what results
can be obtained with these simple materials. Cloth is
represented by tiny snail shells cleaned and polished and
arranged in rows all touching one another. Division
lines are made with narrow columnar shells no thicker
than matches. A row of embroidery is made hy lapping
fragments of very small clam shells, with well defined
lines upon their surface. The features of the human face
and of animal's faces, are reproduced by shells cut at
various angles to obtain some similarity. The patience
required in making these little figures is very great, and
the ingenuity is altogether remarkable. A favorite group

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MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 149

is a man sitting upon a large fish with an open mouth,
while another one is a rather well executed figure of the
native buffalo. A number of shells are found, which, after
proper cleaning and polishing, are sent to other lands
where they are converted into a shell cameos. At one
time these works of art were very popular in both Europe
and America. The shells were very eas3' to cut, and the
effect was almost as handsome as that obtained from the
stone cameos, which are extremely difBcult and laborious.
The shell cameo does not wear well, however, and after
a few years its sharp lines become smooth, and its angles
change to rounded surfaces. It lost its popularity, and
is esteemed to-day by collectors of antiques. There is a
whisper that the Philippine shells which go to Italy,
France and Austria, reappear within the following year
or two in the form of portraits of distinguished deceased
ancestors, with dates and memoranda indicating that
they were made far back in the eighteenth or even the
seventeenth centuries. But this is a cruel suggestion,
and even if it be true must not be charged to the little
brown men of Luzon.

The manufacture of hemp and of hemp and rope is
partly native and partly Spanish. The natives had
learned the virtues of hemp long before Magellan had
gone through the strait which bears his name. They
made an excellent rope, emplo:i'ing nearly all of the prin-
ciples which are used to-day in that manufacture.
Beside twisting the threads the cords and strands they
also braided them, and with the braids in turn made
strands by both twisting and a second braiding. The
braided ropes were often quite flat, and were practically
straps rather than ropes. They were and are utilized as
harness for their ponies and buffaloes and also for rigging
upon their primitive craft. In the household economy

i

HOC MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

theae hempen straps were used for suspending articles
from beams and rafters out of the reach of rats and mice,
for the toe bands of sandals, for making rude rugs and
carpet bags and sacking, and for nearly every purpose to
which the leather thong or strap is employed by savage
races.

Although the native ropes are inferior to those made
by Europeans or under European directions they are
strong, durable, and extremely cheap, costing only a
third to a fifth of the latter. At one time these native
styles of cordage entered into the commerce of the coun-
try, but this has been changed by the crushing force of
internal taxation and of export duties. These two mill-
stones have injured every industry in the Philippines,
and have put an end to severaL

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES 161

CHAPTER XVin.

THE ANIMAL WOBLD.

To an American traveler, at least, the animal world of
the Philippines is full of surprises, some pleasant and
others, the majority, unpleasant. Tour first acquaint-
anoeship is made on shipboard when sailing along tho
coast in the night time and any light is burning you are
bound to be visited by strong, flying cockroaches, which
will cross several miles of water in their desire to reach a
flame. They are omniverous pests, and play havoc with
boots, leather trunks, book-covers, and are said to take a
fiendish delight in nibbling the finger nails and toe nails
of a sleeper. It hardly pays to make a fight against
these extraordinary insects. You may kill a hundred
thousand in the house so that the place looks free of the
insects, but the next morning their places will be filled
by two hundred thousand new ones. After a few days
the traveler gets used to it, and after a few weeks does
not notice the little creatures.

On landing at Manila, probably the first animal that
one sees is the buffalo. Manila is rich zoologically in
members of this pachydermatous family. The largest
and most imposing is a livid creature which may be
called white or pink at pleasure, and which suggests the
sacred white elephants that are occasionally shown in
menageries. They are enormous brutes with long horns,
that are often seven feet from tip to tip, and are used for

152 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

the heavy hauling and carting of the country. They are
very docile, and are frequently tended by native chil-
dren. It is said, however, that they have a malignant
enmity toward all Caucasians, under the impression that
these are Spaniards in disguise. There is a smaller
buffalo similar to the Chinese species which has a black
skin almost entirely devoid of hair. It is a marsh animal
and finds its chief delight in burying itself up to the neck
in mud or in wallowing in a dirty pool. It is fiercer and
more dangerous than its larger white colleague. There
is a small buffalo which is rarer still called the Tamarao,
which is handsomer in ahape and more graceful in move-
ment than any other member of the family, and last of
this bovine family is the wild buffalo which is the best
game of the country. He is about as large as an alderney
bull, of a black color, and a blackish skin, scantily fur-
nished with bristles rather than hair. His horns are
large and extremely sharp. He is said to be untamable ^
and is braver and more reckless than either lion or tiger.
If he scents a man he bellows and charges. It makes
no difference whether it be one man or a hundred, it is
all the same to his belligerent mind.

His habits are curious; living by day in swampy for-
ests or in open marshes, at night he comes forth from
his lair and invades the nearest field. As might be sup-
posed, the natives who are not allowed to use or even own
firearms, treat him with the greatest respect. If they
see one of the dreaded creatures approaching every one
of the party goes up a tree. Even then the vindictive
brute will sometimes remain at the foot of a tree, pawing,
snorting and bellowing for hours, and it is said for two
or three days waiting for the man to come down. When-
ever a native is treed he first prays to the buffalo, be-
seeching him to go away. If this does not succeed he

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 153

then scolds for an hour or more. This failing he screams
and yells, throws sticks and branches at the quadruped^
and finally throws down his trousers, the only article of
raiment which he wears. The buffalo stamps on this and
tears it until his rage is satisfied and then goes away upon
his business.

The flesh of this wild ruminant is yerj*' good eating,
and is regarded as a great delicacy by sportsmen. The
skin makes the hardest and strongest leather known. It
is made into whips, traces, harness, shoestrings, and
other articles where durability is required. The horns
are much stronger than ordinary horn, and can be soft-
ened and bent into various shapes. Some of the native
artificers convert it into cane, hair combs, hair orna-
ments, Chinese snuff boxes, and cigarette cases.

The Philippine buffalo bears a striking resemblance to
the Philippine islander. In his wild state he is fierce,
intractable and cruel. Once broken in and domesticated
he becomes docile, patient and long-suffering. When
tamed he is intelligent, affectionate and grateful, and yet
when imposed upon too far the old savage nature is apt to
break out and the terrible wild beast reassert itself.

Horses are very numerous. The native horse or pon^r
has already been referred to in another chapter, but in
addition to him are the descendants of those brought to
the Philippines from Asia and Europe. The European
horse does not thrive in the country in the first genera-
tion. In the second it holds its own ; in the third it is
acclimated, but it loses most of its good qualities. Look-
ing at the numerous equipages a careful observer can
detect the English cob, the Andalusian barb, the Chinese
pony, and the surdy little Timor pony. Everybody of
any social position owns a horse, and many of the wealthy
keep a very respectable stable. Keeping a horse does

164 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

not involve a large expense. Wages and feed are ex-
tremely oheap in that part of the world. A good horse
boy can be hired for about four dollars a month in our
inoney, and the keep of the horse does not exceed that
amount.

The deer family are very well represented in the
islands. There is a large and handsome stag which is
hunted by all classes on account of the many demands
for different parts of his constitution. The sportsman
wants him for the sake of the chase^ and the pot hunter
for the handsome returns of a successful shot. The meat
is tender and delicious, bringing three and four times as
much as beef in the open market. The skin makes a
handsome and popular leather, the liver is highly es-
teemed by the natives, and most valuable of all the young
horns are regarded by the Chinese inhabitants of the
islands as the panacea for nearly every ill. For a single
young horn a Chinaman will give from three to seven
dollars. Where there are well developed young horns
the lucky captor may get as high as twenty dollars for
the horns alone, which is equal to the wages for six
months' labor. There is another deer which is scarcely
as large as a goat, and below this a still smaller one, ex-
quisitely graceful and very prettily spotted. Most beau-
tiful of all is the chevrotain or mouse-deer, which is about
as large as a black and tan terrier and is the daintiest
most ethereal little thing in the world. It is a swift
runner, and when it dashes across an open it looks more
like smoke drifting by than a timid and excited little
animal.

There is a wild pig in the islands which can be recom-
mended to all lovers of good living. He lives in the
forest, where he subsists upon fruits, tender roots, and
large tropical snails* He is very cleon in his habits^

i

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 165

aud is muscular and well-built. His flesh is the best meat
iu Luzon; Spanish naturalists believe that he is the
descendant of Chinese pigs imported many centuries
ago, which ran wild and by the force of necessity
changed his habits and habitat. If so it is a remark-
able metamorphosis, as he shows few if any of the lead-
ing characteristics of his reputed ancestors.

Our best four-footed friend, the dog, is very much in
evidence in the Philippines, but does not receive the care
and attention which he has in colder countries. This is
probably due to the climate which enables him to. live
altogether in the open. Beside the breeds familiar to
Americans, there are at least three which are almost un-
known to the western world. One is the Chow dog which
has been brought to the Philippines from China. He is
a well built, powerful animal, with so long a coat of hair
around the neck and shoulders as to give some the ap-
pearance of a young lion, and others that of an animal
with a sore throat tied up in a hairy blanket. The sec-
ond is a very small dog, the Manila terrier^ which looks
like an unhealthy cross between the black and tan and a
French Turnspit dog. It is a homely creature, but is
said to be very loyal and intelligent. In striking con-
trast is a huge dog which has aroused much interest
among naturalists. It is larger than the biggest mastiff,
and fiercer than a bulldog. It has a handsome coat of
uniform tint, yellow, yellow-brown, or brown. That it
is not indigenous is almost certain. All known wild
dogs are of medium size — about the same build and
weight as the wolf, their first cousin. The big dogs seem
to be the product of careful breeding by owners who de-
sired protection from wild beasts. The mastiff of Eng-
land, the Thibet dog, the Siberian bloodhound^ were
originally fighting-machines for their possessors. But in

156 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

the Philippines there are no camivora to render such
canine types of service. The only explanation which can
be offered is that they are descendants of Chinese blood-
hounds, which were brought over by traders and mer-
chants in the early centuries as a safeguard against
native pilferers.

The Philippines have two kinds of civet-cats, which
are not cats in any respect. One called moussan by the
natives, has gray fur srtipped and dotted with black. It
has the head of a kitten, the body of a big gray squirrel,
and a long tail with a curly end like a monkey. The
other is of the same color as a Havana cigar, and looks
like a small edition of the first. A Malay asked what
these creatures eat, replied: "Everything, sefior, except-
ing the trunks of trees, but we like them because they eat
snake's eggs and small snakes." Their teeth are both
oarnviorous and insectivorous, showing that they must
fill an important place in nature. Insect and reptilian,
especially ophidian life, is overwhelming in the Philip-
pines, and these little creatures serve as a check upon
their becoming too destructive.

An animal whose fur at least is well known to Ameri-
cans, is the pretty guiga or cobego, a fiyin -lemur. It
has a fine, soft and silky coat, whose color varies with
each individual. There are black, and black with white
spots, gray, and gray with white spots, dark-gray and
light gray, yellow, yellow and graj% yellow and black,
yellow with whit^ spots. It may be doubted if any
other wild animal shows such a variety of furs. He is
often tamed, but does not thrive in captivity.

The Philippines are well supplied with rats. They
have both the European and Norwegian, and no less than
three kinds peculiar to themselves. One seems a con-
necting link bewteen the rat and beaver, having long

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 157

hair and broad chisel-teeth. It is about the size of a
prairie-dog. A second is smaller, but still much larger
than those which trouble American housekeepers. It is
gray, long-haired and very daring. Its teeth are more
canine than rodent in character. It is carnivorous and
suggests the wreasel and ferret.

There are enough bats in Luzon alone to supply the
world. They have about the same as we have, and many
others from which we have been providentially spared.
There is the paniquet, or little vampire, whose remarkable
diet consists of ripe fruit and fresh blood. There is the
pug-nosed fruit-bat, a worthy vegetarian. Other queer
varieties are the sheath-tail, the naked, the big-mouth,
the long-nosed, and the monkey bat. At nightfall they
are so numerous about a house as to resemble a great
flight of birds. Their multitude indicates a correspond-
ingly large amount of the fruits, insects and animals on
which they subsist.

It is strange how niggardly nature has been to the
Philippines in regard to the mammalia. The soil is
marvelously rich and the vegetation rich enough to sup-
port an innumerable host of carnivorous and granivorous
creatures. Tet there are none of the carnivora, not even
the wildcat. The bear, wolf, fox, jackal, goat, sheep
and cow had no representative there at the time of the
conquest. Even the marsupials which are so abundant
in lands to the south and southeast, do not seem to have
reached their shores. That the place is well adapted for
all such animals is shown by the vigor of the native types
and the rapid increase of the horse, cow, pig, sheep, dog,
cat and monkey brought from China or the Malay coun-
tries.

The natives are not very skillful hunters as are those of
the mainland^ so that there cannot have been any such

158 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

process of extermination as has marked the passing-away
of the buffalo, panther, puma and wolf east of the Mis-
sissippi in our own land. What little has been done hy
geologists in the Philippines fails to show that condi-
tions were different at any point this side of the Glacial
epoch. It may be one of nature's vagaries, just as there
are no snakes in Ireland, and up to a late date no
mosquitos in England. The distribution of animal life
is so dependent upon historic, prehistoric and geologic
causes and influences that in spite of all our scientific
progress we can at the best but surmise in the premises.
All facts have a meaning be^^ond that which they indicate,
and the status of the animal world may contain within it
the story of cataclysm or epidemic more terrible than
can be imagined by the traveler.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 159

CHAPTER XIX.

THB FEATHEBED POPULATION.

Tbb bird life of the Philippines is bewildering in
variety and beauty. Hej'e and there familiar faces are
seenj all of which have doubtless been taken by travelers
or imported by Americans living in that part of the
world. Canaries are the favorites of the people and sev-
eral families in Manila have mocking birds^ which, if they
were not bom in Dixie, were certainly descended from
ancestral southerns. The most interesting bird is the
wild cock, who is the ancestor of our domestic fowl.
The first glimpse of this royal creature shows that domes-
tication may have improved the value of the species for
commercial purposes, but has not increased its beauty.
These wild fowl are wonderfully beautiful. The plumage
of the male is bronze and gleams like burnished metal,
varied here and there with dashes of gold, orange, red,
white, or gray. Of the female the color is black, some-
times slightly mottled and sometimes flashed or speckled
with gray, yellow or white. They have fine forms, flj'
well, and the cock is a better fighter if it be possible than
the Spanish gamecock, who, according to the Philippine
islanders, is a direct descendant of the native bird. In
the woods there is a sand fowl which looks like a poorly-
bred, small-sized yellow and fluffy Plymouth rock. There
is a very beautiful pheasant whose plumage is halfway
between that of the pheasant and the peacock. There

160 MANILA AND THE PHIUI>I>INES.

are other varieties each with its own Dative DameyTarying
in size and oolor. Altogether there must be a dozen
types of fowl which are novel to a traveler from the
United States. The pigeon family makes an equally
handsome display. The batu batu has a brilliant, long
ruff around the neck, and both ruff and all the feathers
look exactly like an emerald of the first water. When a
bird rests in a tree it is easily distinguished by the
greater intensity and brilliancy of its color, and no
matter how rich the green of the foliage. There is the
Pigeon of the Crucifixion, named by some devout priest
in bygone years, whose back and wings are an exquisite
slate-blue, and whose neck, breast and belly are of snow-
white. In the very middle of the breast is a great splash
of scarlet, so deep in color as to look exactly like a drop
of blood. The first time a stranger sees one he is bound
to sympathize with the poor dove in the belief that it has
been dangerously wounded. There are several large
birds of the eagle family, of which the finest and hand-
somest is the sea eagle or Lao Win. He appears to be a
bird of liberal tastes, and when fish are scarce does not
object to a diet of chicken, pheasant, small deer or a
snake. His strength is tremendous, he having been
known to carry off a fish three feet long, weighing eigh-
teen or twenty pounds. He is a favorite subject of song
and stor3* with the Malay's, who have built around him
many myths, some based seemingly upon fact and others
pure creations of the fancy. One story says that during
the mating season he selects his prey according to the
wishes of his wife and never eats anything which he
catches until he has taken it home to the eyrie and
allowed her to eat what she desires before he touches a
morsel. One thing is certain, he is a model of conjugal
virtue. Be helps his mate build the nest and during

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 161

hatching and the feeding of the young ones, until they
can fly, he is indefatigable in relieving the mother in
every way possible. When she leaves the nest to wash
herself and drink a little, he will either take her place
and perform her functions or else he will perch on the
nest with his wings half open as if ready to attack any
invader of his home. Another story declares that when-
ever he sees a poisonous water snake in the neighbor-
hood of one of his fishing grounds, he attacks and
destroys it if it be a small serpent, but if it be large he
soars away and soon returns with a lot of comrades who
with him destroy the foe.

According to another legend he is vengeful and vin-
dictive. Once a powerful chief living near Jala Jala,
determined to put an eagle's nest in his royal hut.
Against the protests of the wise men of the tribe he suc-
ceeded in killing the mother and wounding the father,
who was a young bird, in the wing. He described his
exploit with great glee, expressing sorrow that he had
not killed or caught the male on account of its strange
plumage, which beside being black and white had upon
the wings and tail great splashes of flame color.

One of the old men of the village told him that he had
committed a great error, and that the bird would return
some time for vengeance. A year passed, during which
time no sea eagle was seen near the village. This was
very strange, because they had been plentiful before and
also because the small bird, which is the eagle's jackal or
familiar, was there the same as ever. About nesting time
a hunter informed the chief that several eagles had built
nests high up on an inaccessible crag many miles awaj*
from the place. The site was very inhospitable, and had
never been used by the eagles before. Several weeks
passed, and one day there was a terrible scream from

J 62 MANILA ANn THE PHILIPPINES*

behind the chief's hut. The savages rushed to the spot
and found the chief's wife lying senseless with some
terrible gashes on her face and throat, but of her little
three months' old babe they found not a trace. When
the woman came to she said that something had out
her from behind, and that she screamed and became
unconscious.

The following year when the poor woman had another
child the same thing occurred, and this time she was
killed and the babe taken away, but the murderer was
seen. It was a huge eagle, larger than any that had ever
been known in the country, with brilliant black and white
plumage, and on the wings and tail feathers splashes of
red. The chief, wild with rage and grief, organized a
great party of hunters, and taking the man who had seen
the nests the year before as a guide, went up into the
mountains where they were. They came to the cliff and
there upon the ground far beneath the nests, which were
perched high up above them, were the bones of two little
children, some white and blanched, and some but a few
days dead. The chief, frenzied at the sight, climbed up
the cliff where no other warrior in the party could follow.
Halfway up, two great birds, one of which had red
splashes on its wings and tail, suddenly appeared upon
the scene and attacked the reckless climber. The men
houted from below, and the chief turned in time to see
tiis foe. He gave a wild warcry, threw himself madly at
the bird, and with it clasped fiercely struggling, fell
headlong to the rocks below.

Parrots are very nice birds when you have one or two
of them. When you have ten your neighbors usually
complain of you to the Board of Health. But in the .
Philippines there are appareutly several billions of that
interesting family of creatures. There are parrots and

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES 163

paroquetB, and, worst of all, huge white cockatoos with
topknots resembling lettuce. The parrots are green,
yellow, scarlet, black and blue, in fact, of apparently
every color of the rainbow. They are rapacious thieves,
and are the dread of every poor farmer and fruit grower.
As for their noise it is always bad and discordant. Dur-
ing the mating season and also at the change of the mon-
soons, they hold mass meetings and make an uproar
alongside of which pandemonium is a Quaker's gathering.

If any one wants to speculate in parrots let him go to
Luzon or Mindanao and get a shipload. If his ambitions
are larger he can get ten shiploads. In fact, the natives
would be so glad to dispose of the bird that they would
sell them for less than what they do now, which is about
five cents a parrot.

The lakes and marshes are a paradise for duck hunters.
They are of all colors, sizes, and habits. Some are what
may be called respectable birds, and eat a mixed diet of
worms, roots and mud like ducks at home, and conse-
quently taste about the same. Birds of this class can be
bought in the market for about eight or nine cents apiece.
Another variety lives upon water spinach and other
marine plants, and tastes very much like canvas back but
is much fatter. A third variety picks out small fishes,
ancient bivalves and decayed crustaceans, and has a taste
which consumptive people says is like a poor quality of
ood-liver oil ; while a fourth variety lives upon some vil-
lainous roots or grasses which ought to poison the eater,
bat which by some strange law of Providence enables the
duck to almost poison his eater. The tame ducks have
been brought over from China and are excellent. They
are raised on small duck farms very much the same as at
Canton, and make exceedingly good eating. Mention
must be made of one little bird which brings a never-

164 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

ending stream of wealth into the Philippines. That is
the world-famous sea swallow which builds the nest, sold
to Chinese the world over for making birds'-nest soup.
These little creatures are not true swallows, but really
sea birds. They are found hundreds of miles at sea, and
repair to the land only during the mating and nesting
season. The gum which they gather is as much a m.ys-
tery to-day as it ever was. Some authorities claim that
it is a special salivary secretion of the bird's mouth, while
others with more plausibility declare that it is a gum
gathered from the sea, analagous to the pulp of the jelly
fish and the flesh tissue of the sea anemone. A third class
hold a combination view, namely : that it is sea slime
which has been acted upon by the fluids in the bird's
mouth. At any rate the swallows apply this slime, glue
or gum which is white, yellow or brown in color, to walls
of vertical cliffs and caverns, and with it fasten sticks
and straws together until what with glue and fiber they
make a wall pocket in which they lay their eggs and
hatch them. This glue oxidizes slightly on the outside
and hardens so that it is scarcely affected by either rain
or storm spray. It is collected by experts both Malay
and Chinese, the labor being hard and dangerous. In
some cases the gatherer is let down from the top of high
cliffs from fifty to several hundred feet, and secures the
nests from the rocky walls or from the interior of
recesses. Sometimes the gatherer enters caverns at the
base of the rocks at low tide and obtains the nests from
the sides above high-water mark. In the former case the
rope often breaks or is cut through by the wearing of the
strands on the rock, and in the latter case the tide-sharks
and poisonous sea serpents put an end to his ventures.
The nests when first gathered are quite dirty and are
carefully eleaned by bafid^ It takes considerable skill to

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 165

do this work, and only skilled operators are allowed to
perform it. When the glue is finally freed from all for-
eign matters it looks a great deal like a small oup made
out of spruoe gum. It is done up in nests and sold to
Mongolian epicures. The finest quality is almost white
and brings as high as eighty and ninety dollars gold for
a dozen, weighing scarcely more than a pound. The
dark-brown opaque and dirty -looking nests are the cheap-
est, but these bring even from ten dollars a pound
upward. The trade is very large and is said to bring in
over a million dollars a year from well-to-do Chinamen
all over the world.

The Chinese citizens of the Philippines, who are numer-
ous in the cities, are great bird fanciers, and cultivate
thrushes, mongolian larks, and most melodious of all, the
Mina bird. This is a small black bird, which suggests a
minature edition of the crow. There is a little dash of
red upon its forehead which gives him rather a jaunty
appearance. He is said to be carnivorous, and to the
author's own knowledge evinces rare delight over a dish-
ful of chopped raw meat.

Every scientist who goes to the Philippines discovers
some new species of birds. Gironiere compiled a list of
one hundred and seventy species, the Verreaux brothers
increased this list to four hundred and fifty. Dr. Semper
added some, eight or ten, and each of the late naturalist
expeditions to thQ inlands have added from ten to twenty
apiece.

166 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER XX.

FISHES AND REPTILES.

A TisiT to the fish market of Manila diseloses that both
fresh and salt water afford an inexhaustible supply of
food. Nearly all are more or less strange to the Ameri-
can eye but bear enough resemblance to our own types to
seem half familiar. There is a medium-sized chunky fish
with large head and mouth which resembles the rock cod«
but is better eating. There is an excellent sole and a very
good fish which resembles the mullet. A handsome fish
is one which is very long, narrow, and silver-like in its
color. There is also a large, dark-colored heavy fish with
excellent meat and few bones. The oddest fish is the
candole, which ranges as large as three feet in length.
It has no scales, a large head and mouth, and for its
armament three large stiletto-like horns. One is on the
back, at the end of the fin, and one on each side of the
chest. They grow from an inch to two inches in length,
have needle points and saw teeth on the edges. They
not alone stab and cut, but appear to be poisonous as well.
Any person stabbed by one of these spines is treated
about the same as if it were a dog bite. The wound is
cauterized, or washed with strong ammonia water. "When
the fish is feeding, or undisturbed, the spines lie flat to
the body, but at the slightest indication of danger they
spring up and out, and there remain until the danger is
past. They are moved by very powerful muscles or car-

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 167

tilftgea, and appear to be controlled by involuntary a8
well as voluntary nerves. When one of these fishes is
harpooned or shot suddenly, the SI. ines remain standing
and will break sheer across before they can be depressed
by main force. They appear to be a very excellent pro-
tection as they are shunned by nearly all the large fishes.

There are several kinds of crustaceans, all palatable
and nutritious. One is a prawn or crayfish about twice
the size of a Florida prawn. Another is a crayfish about
four or five inches in length. A third is a little shrimp
about an inch long and a sixteenth of an inch in diameter
and a fourth is a prawn, called the camerron or cam-
erony. A peculiar thing about these organisms is that
they are gray and translucent when alive and some almost
transparent, but when thrown into boiling water, or when
baked, they assume the same rich red as the crab and the
lobster.

The shark has almost as hard a time on the east side of
the China Sea as on the west. The demand for the tail
and especially the fins by the Chinese and the Japanese,
has made that savage denison of the sea the favorite prey
of every fisherman, Mongolian and Malay. Those who
go to the Philippines after having read the yellow-covered
novels of America and England in which the China Sea
is depicted as being full of man-eating sharks, are griev-
ously disappointed at finding fewer large specimens in
that part of the world than upon the Atlantic coast of the
American or European continents. An observer can
easily understand the reason when in the market he sees
good edible fishes sold for a few cents a pound, and
shark's fins scarce at fifty, and sixty cents a pound. As
a matter of fact the fish is being exterminated, and would
have vanished from those waters if the supply had not
been replenished from the Pacific and Indian oceans.

168 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

Even with that supply the average shark in the markets
is seldom more than three, or three and a half feet long.

The reptilian life is very extensive. The largest and
most dangerous is the cayman or eastern alligator. It
grows to very great size some specimens being twelve and
fourteen feet in length. The Spaniards themselves are
too lazy to hunt these fierce saurians, and as they do not
permit the natives to own firearms the latter are unable
to wage any successful war upon the monsters. They
inhabit the streams, lakes and marshes, and every 3'ear
kill many men, horses, buffaloes and smaller animals.
They have the low cunning which distinguishes all the
varieties of the reptile, and will be a terror to the Philip-
pines until the natives are permitted to use the rifle for
their own defense. In striking contrast With the cay-
mans are the iguanas or large land and marsh lizards.
The biggest is a giant often eight feet and a half in
length. It is of a greenish brown color dotted with
yellow spots. It is a true amphibian, living upon smaller
land and water organisms. Despite his size and strength
he is, if not cowardly, at least inoffensive, and is killed
by the natives with impunity. The crested iguana is
another type of lizard, looking something like the carica-
ture of a knight in armor. It is of a yellowish gray
color, and is as harmless as its bigger cousin. There are
other and still smaller varieties, differing in color and
proportion. They are all ugly and harmless. But to
the credit of the iguana family be it said that they are
all good eating. Their flesh is white, tender, and well *
flavored. Its taste is about halfway between chicken and
turtle steaks, and is good, no matter in what style it may
be cooked. Iguana eggs are almost exactly like turtle
eggs and are equally delicious and nourishing.

There is another liaard in the Philippines which, though

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 169

harmless is upon first acquaintance an unpleasant
neighbor. It is known as the cbacon or tacon, and is
about a foot long. The coloring is like that of a crazy
quilt, being gray, brown, black, yellow, blue, and red.
When the skin is well tanned it makes a beautiful
material for pocketbooks, belts and other articles of
personal wear. The chacon's peculiarity is its extraor-
dinary power of holding on to anything by suction. The
feet are large, and the toes are the framework upon which
is stretched a stout elastic and muscular membrane. This
can be raised into hollow oups at will, and by so doing
produces a vacuum in each cup, rendering it like the
leather suckers used by boys at play. If they get on a
person it is very difficult to take them off, so fast do their
pneumatic valTes attach themselves to the body. They
have a curious cry which is said to sound exactly like
their name. To an uninstructed ear it sounds very much
like a hoarse sneeze followed by a well-defined grunt.

In the woods there are flying lizards or dragons so-
called. The structure of these graceful creatures is like
that of the flying squirrel, or flying lemur; a long thin
membrane extending from the body and the sides of the
four legs and hind legs, so as to form an aeroplane when
the limbs are extended their full length.

The snake family has attained a full development in
these lands. The great boa has already been described.
It; is one of the largest if not the largest snake known.
But very few attain great size. Those of enormous size,
running over thirty feet in length, are extremely rare.
There are younger and smaller ones from fifteen to twenty
feet which may constitute a tenth of the snake world,
and then there are ninety per cent, still younger, and
smaller ones which are under ten feet. The Philippine
boa is undoubtedly undergoing extermination through
•esiBieyoial aad induitrial oauses^

170 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

The skin makes a capital leather, and is used for scab-
bards, creese handles, yalises, and fancy leather work.
There is a good demand for it in China and other orien-
tal conntries. This in itself would create a Tery large
slaughter every year, bat, in addition, nearly every native
tribe likes the meat. Many Europeans, who have tried it
from cariosity or necessity, have also taken a liking for
it, and use it occasionally upon the table. The boa itself
has its own natural enemies, so that it has been suffering
an ever increasing persecution with the years. In the
past twenty-five years the destructive causes have been
increased by the demand from zoological gardens, and
the exertions of traveling naturalists and scientific expe-
ditions.

I There are several other snakes of the constrictor family,

of which the leading members resemble the small rock
python, the black snake, and the brown snake of Central
Europe. The poisonous snakes are unpleasantly numer-
ous. There is a small serpent of a dull color which lies
near the road and attacks almost without provocation.
Its bite is as fatal as that of a rattlesnake. It is known
as the rice-leaf, on account of a fancied resemblance be-
tween it and rice leaves, when they have attained their
growth and begun to wither. There is a large poisonous
snake known as the alinmorani, which is sometimes eleven
feet long, but which averages about six feet. It is ex-
tremely venomous, aggressive, and persistent. Like the
moccasin and copperhead, it is easily killed by a blow
with a pole or long stick. Large numbers of people die
from snake bites in the islands, but the fact seems to
excite little comment.

There are many water serpents, nearly all of them
poisonous. The Bay of Manila has two species which are
famous. One is a gray snake dotted in black and yellow.

MANILA AND THfi PHILIPPINES. 171

rtinBinfi: from two to five feet long. It is not poisonous,
bat is certainly the ugliest snake extant. The hooded
snake of India is exceedingly repulsive, and the African
puff adder is horrible to look at, but this creature in.
Manila Bay is simply loathsome. The other one is a long
greenish, or yellow-greenish sea serpent, unspeakably
hideous, clumsy, but swift in its movements, and deadly
in its bite. It is a scourge to the fishermen, who endeavor
to kill it wherever possible.

At Manila there is a feudal custom still in vogue per-
taining to fishers and fishing, which is more than a sur-
prise to one born in the freedom of democracy. It is the
sale by the government of the pescary of the bay, or the
local fishing concession. The sale is held at stated inter-
vals, and the buyer, who is usually a shrewd speculator,
pays a large amount of money for the bargain. This gives
him the exclusive right to take fish from the waters of
the bay during the term of the concession, and legally
makes him the owner of every fish in the waters during
that period. He issues licenses to fishermen and sporting
men. From the former he usually exacts a fixed sum,
and a percentage as large as he can make it of the proceeds
of all the fish they catch. From the sportsman he takes
a lump sum per individual, per party, per boat, and per
day. To protect him the law makes it a crime for any
man to take a fish from the water without first having a
license, or written permission from the concessionaire.
The author was assured by a prominent citizen of Manila
that starving Malays, who had been caught taking fish
from the bay with which to keep their families alive had
been thrown into jail for the offense, and that on more
than one occasion the offender has been shot by a soldier
or policeman for trying to escape with a fish which he
had caught. This extraordinary and unjust law is, it

itfi MANILA AND TH£ PHILII»P1NES.

must be confessed, not altogether peculiar to Spain. It
prevailed through a large part of Europe during the feu-
dal period, and it suryives in a few places in Qreat Brit-
ain at the present time, ^n Qreat Britain it is confined
to streams, ponds, and lakes, which were private property,
when their owner sold to third parties the right to the
fish they contained. In the course of years the right
became a charge, or easement upon the land under the
stream or pond. Like most easements it was made into
a legal entity, and thence into specific property ; so that
finally the land might belong to one man, and the right
to fish in the water on the land to his worst enemy.
English jurisprudence and legislation have undermined
this right, and made it nearly obsolete. The British
government itself would never dream of enforcing or
creating such a right for its own benefit. But Spain, true
to its Bourbon traditions, keeps up her practice, which
may have been of benefit in the dark ages, but is certainly
a stigma upon its civilization to-day.

MANILA AND THE PttlLlPHNfiS, It^

CHAPTER XXI.

OAJtDKN, FARM AND FOREST.

Unlike the China coast, where there are long miles of
sterile rocky shore, there does not seem to be a spot in
the Philippines excepting around active volcanoes where
there is not an exuberant vegetation. Nowhere can be
found a nobler variety of the color green. Its most deli-
cate tinge is found in newly sprouting paddyfiells, where
the young rice plant sends forth a shoot which is white,
with just enough green and gold to give it character. At
the other end of the extreme is a wild grass which grows
on the hillsides so dark that it seems black when looked
at in most lights. There are pale greens which are
almost like the exquisite uranium glass of Bohemia.
There are silver greens brighter and more metallic than
the silver maple of New England ; there are bronze greens
that seem as if they had been varnished with metallic
paint. There is a wilderness of flowers. Foreign mer-
chants have brought from ever^^ part of the world floral
souvenirs of home, and many have taken kindly to
their new environment. The geranium, so difiScult of
nurture in the north becomes a perfect weed in the gar-
dens and fields of Manila. The heliotrope grows into a
great bush five and six feet high, a dozen feet in diame-
ter, weighed down with such a load of blossoms that the
perfume fills the air for a hundred yards in every direc-
tion. The wistaria thrives as does the superb Bougain-

i

i|i

\:

Vi MANILA AND TH£ PHILIPPINES.

); villa with its oataraot of orange gold. Boses flourish, but

Ij require oonstant supervision in order to obtain handsome

j buds and flowers. Unfamiliar flowers meet the eye at

every step. At one point the visitor sees a clumsy red
tulip tree, at another an acacia in full bloom looks at a
distance like a great banner of scarlet surrounded by
rich green. The banaba tree covers itself every year
with beautiful flowers of the richest violet. The orange
and lemon are here at home, and produce their exquisite
I blossoms by tens of thousands. There are lilies of all

varieties, from the great tigers down to diminutive spider
lilies, from the narcissus and proud gladiolas down to
grass lilies almost as humble as the daisy and violet.
Flowers are so common that they lose much of their
^ significance. When a bouquet two feet in diameter can

) be had for five cents or a basket of a thousand flowers for

ten or twelve, one is apt to become a little bit tired, and
when to this is added a never-ending blaze of colors in
your yard, masses of blossoms and clouds of perfume upon
every road, bouquets in every room, and loose flowers upon
the tablecloth at every meal, and tubs and pots of bright
plants in every window, veranda and hallway, the beauty
palls upon you, no matter how deep your love for the
treasures of the vegetable kingdom. If the flowers are
numerous the fruits are not less so, but few of the north-
ern fruits are found in the Philippines. Of the native
fruits the mango is the monarch, if it be not the king of
all fruits. Those who have eaten the Cuban, Brazilian,
Venezuelan, Central American and Hawaian varieties,have
a treat in store for them — if they do not know and cannot
imagine the indescribable superiority of the Manila mas-
terpiece. It is shaped something like a pear, and is of a
deep gold or red-gold color. It ranges from three to six
inches in length, from two to three inches in width, and

Manila anjd the Philippines. 175

from one to two and half inches in thickness. The in-
terior is a pulp or cream of rich gold.

That prime favorite^ the banana, is represented by
fifty distinct varieties. Each is excellent, but all of them
pale before the kind known as the Lacatan. This pos-
sesses a golden pulp and a flavor and perfume that are
almost those of the pineapple. All the banana family are
favorite foods, and are prepared in various ways. Among
these are banana fritters, banana ice cream, fried banana,
a macedoine of banana, orange and pineapple, banana
pudding and banana custard.

The papaw, which flourishes in the central and southern
States of America, reaches a larger size and flner flavor in
the Philippines. The pulp contains a vegetable principle
or ferment resembling pepsin, which gives the fruit great
medicinal value. It is recommended by the medical
faculty for dyspepsia, weak digestion, anemia and wast-
ing diseases.

There are pomelos, or Oriental shaddocks, as large as a
football; Ave different kinds of oranges; two kinds of
lemons, two of limes, one of citron; four of guavas; two
of pineapples ; cocoanuts, figs, grapes and tamarinds.

Unfamiliar dainties are the durien, which has a deli-
cious flavor but an odor like that of Limburg cheese ; the
ohica, which looks like a small round potato, but has a
cool, orisp and intensely sweet taste; the lomboy and
loquot, which resemble large damsons, but have a tart and
delightful spicy flavor; the mangosteen, which suggests a
burned baked potato, but contains a snowy pulp within,
unspeakably pleasant and refreshing ; the lanzon, whose
taste is sweet and subacid like that of a mountain straw-
berry ; custard-apples, which are fluted apples filled with
whipped cream ; the santol, or Philippine strawberry, a
poor oopy of the northern fruit; bread-fruit, which looks

176 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINftS.

for all the world like green egg-plants^ and when thor-
oughly cooked may be mistaken for toast; jack-fruit,
which is an inferior kind of bread-fruit ; the mabolo^ a
large fruit of rare beauty, about halfway in appearance
between an apple and a peach; the lai-chee, a delicious
thick-skinned red globe filled with a translucent cream ;
the macapa, a crimson fruit tasting vaguely like attar of
rose, and the avocado or alligator pear.

In addition to this long list of fruits are those brought
over by steamers from Formosa, Foochow, Amoy, Hong
Kong and Singapore. Each of these places has a number
of fruits of fine flavor and savor, which are known and
liked in every part of the far East. Examples are found
in the black peach of Foochow, the pomelos and lung-
ngans of Amoy ; the red mandarin-orange, Chinese goose-
berry and mulberries of Canton. Taken together these
make a collection whose equal would be difficult to find
in any other city of the world. They constitute a de-
lightful feature of life in Manila which no traveler ever
forgets. Further than this, they give a variety and excel-
lence to the daily fare, which are always favorable to
well-being.

The forests of the Philippines are of enormous extent
and contain an inexhaustible supply of woods of all
sorts, ranging from the quick-growing palm to the hard
woods which require a century for their full development.
Many are of remarkable beauty in color and grain, taking
a high polish and undergoing the heaviest strains or
severest wear without perceptible damage. The leading
trees include the molave, whose wood is scarcely distin-
guishable from boxwood, and which possesses all the
good qualities of the latter. It is proof against insects
and is very seldom attacked by the white ants. It is
used for weatherboards and for ship construction. The

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 177

banaba is noted for the beauty of its fiber, which is hard,
tough, and of a beautiful rose-pink color. It is used in
the house-building trades and also in cabinet work. The
palomaria is a gum wood which suggests spruce to a New
Englander. The gum is popular among the natives, who
use it for bruises and sores externally, and for stomach
disorders internally. The wood is light, flexible and
strong, resembling hickory. It is used for masts and
yards hy the natives upon their primitive craft, and also
for carrying poles by the porters in the larger cities.
The mangachafoi is a stately tree which rises up a
slowly tapering shaft eighty, one hundred, and even one
hundred and fifty feet. The wood is of uniform quality
from root to top and is highly esteemed by the Chinese for
masts and flagpoles. The anobin is a cousin of the bread-
fruit tree, only four or five times as large. Its wood is
light, strong, aiid gummy enough to be water-repellent if
not waterproof. It was the favorite material in early
years for the long war canoes of the Malays, and in later
times for their trading craft and pirate ships.

The change from wooden to iron and steel construction
has destroyed most of the demand, so that the trees are
increasing in number and size throughout the archipelago.
Another gigantic tree i4 the narra, or Philippine mahog-
any. It grows to eight, ten, and fifteen feet in diameter.
Tables have been made from cross sections which would
comfortably seat thirty-five guests, and from the planks
of a single tree an entire brigantine has been constructed.

An aromatic and picturesque cedar known as the
calantas is used by both builders and cabinet makers.
The balete hasf a wood which is soft and spongy like that
of the American palmetto. The inner bark can be util-
ized for cloth-making and also for the manufacture of
bowstrings, fishing twine, and fish nets.

178 MANILA AND TttE PttlLlPPlNftS.

The lemon trees attain enormous dimensions, being fre«
quently six and eight feet in diameter. There are many
ebony trees which provide a standard quality of wood.
The oamayon is famous for its odd wood, which is of a
pale tint, veined with black and white, looking some-
thing like precious marble. It has a rival in the mala-
tapai, whose timber is veined with black, yellow, brown
and red. The lanotan is often called ivory wood on
account of the remarkable resemblance it bears to ivory.
The dongon is a huge tree larger than an oak, which is
employed for making immense beams and girders. The
guio is very tall, as also large, and supplies a good work-
ing timber, a little bit harder and stronger than pine.
The mango tree attains the size of the live-oaks of Flor-
ida. The santal tree grows to about the general size and
Bhape of a chestnut. The tamarind is one of the most
beautiful of all the members of the forest. Its foliage
may ha mistaken for that of the acacia, while its trunk
and boughs look very much like those of the chestnut.

The sapan tree is a small, ugly bush, like the scrub
pine upon the Atlantic coast. The wood is white when
first cut, but the juice oxidizes and becomes a deep red.
It is valuable to the arts as a source of excellent dyeing
material, and is exported in very large quantities, averag-
ing about five thousand tons a year to China and other
countries. The aranga is a mammoth whose trunks yield
logs as large as three feet thick and seventy-five feet long.
It is used for piling and dock building. There are many
others, including the betis, the anobing, the banoal, the
bansalague, the batitinan, the antipolo, the anagap, the
guijo, the lauan, the macassin, the supa, the yacal, and
the manoono or Eastern lignum vitse.

Despite the immense natural wealth in timber, it does
not bring one-tenth of the income to the oolony which it

/

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 179

would under better conditions of trade. Before a person
can secure any timber he must enter into negotiations
with the authorities, obtain licenses from the inspector
of mountains, concessions from the governor-general,
licenses from the inspector of forests, permissions from
the provincial governor, licenses from the church, and
permits from the custom house. He must charter his
own boat, hire his woodchoppers in advance, engage a

storeyard generally from the government, and pay an
export tax and a special harbor tax before he can ship tlie
first log to a foreign market. Tet notwithstanding this
red tape and costly governmental interference, the profit
is so large that a steady trade is done by Manila and
noilo with other parts of the world. Even where they
enter into competition with Borneo, Sumatra, and the
Malay States, they hold their own on account of the high
excellence of their lumber. Nearly every steamer which
leaves Manila carries cargoes of wood of some sort, and
where there is no space for a consignment of timber they
use sapan wood and other small woods as dunnage and so
make a double profit. The great English house of Brown
& Company, Limited, is the chief mercantile concern in
this field of business. In their reports they have fre-
quently declared that the Philippine Islands are some
^ay to supply the entire Eastern world with its finest
lumber and timber.

180 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES,

CHAPTER XXn.

MIKBS AND METALS.

It was Buckle^ the English historian, who said that
Spain was the last survival of medisevalism in Europe.
No truer criterion of the statement can be desired than
the attitude of its government toward the mineral re-
sources of its noble Eastern colonies. What shall be said
of an administration which refuses to either examine or
develop its own resources, and forbids any one else to
do that which it declines to do itself. Yet that has been
the attitude of the authorities of the Philippines from
time immemorial. What gold is extracted, and it must
amount to a very large quantit3% is done secretly, and
not alone without but against the will of the government.
The Chinese blue books refer to the Philippines as a land
of gold and many precious ores, and the natives them*
selves say that the yellow metal has been extracted from
the rocks and the soil from time immemorial.

Of the mineral resources of the country more is known
in Hong Kong than in Manila. The freedom of speech,
of press, and of action, enjoyed under the British flag
makes even the Spaniard and the natives free their minds,
where at Manila they preserve a discreet silence. Gold,
the most valuable of all the metals, has been found on all
of the larger islands. As early as 1572 there were mines
in North Camarines, which lies in the southeast of Luzon.

In the same century the natives w^r^ found extracting

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 181

gold from quartz in a primitive way in Benguet, Nueva
Yizcaya^ and in Isabella^ in northern Luzon. In 1620 an
army ofiSoer found out that some half-oaste Chinese were
extracting large quantities of gold from mines in the
provinces of Pangasinan and Ilooos in northern Luzon.
The Chinese were attacked and killed^ but the victorious ^
soldiers never found the mines. On the Surigoa^ or eastern
coast of Mindanao^ there were gold deposits found in
both places^ and quartz veins. A prominent captain of a
steamer trading in that neighborhood said that the output
of the washings were at least ten pounds a day of his own
knowledge, and that nearly all of it went to Chinese
traders. Even in Manila province the natives wash the
sand in the river near Montalban, and obtain enough gold
dust to pay them for their trouble. The Sulu warriors
bring both gold dust and nuggets to Borneo, and claim
that there is an inexhaustible supply on Jolo island and
Basilan.

The Spanish historians speak of gold beds not far from
Zamboanga, and Spanish ofiScial reports give accounts of
its occurrence on Panay, Negros, and Cebu. Silver is
found, though not to so wide an extent as gold. There
are very large deposits of silver-lead at Acsubing, Panoy-
poy, and Eiburan, on Cebu island. There is galena-
bearing both gold and silver in Dapitan and Iligan in
Mindanao. In the latter island there is also quicksilver,
platinum and tin. There is iron ore well distributed in
nearly every district. In the last century iron mines
were worked with great success in Moron g, but ware
finally closed by the government on the ground that the
workmen, who were Chinese, were not Christians. The
luckless owner was obliged to send all these workmen to
China at his own expense, and the government refused to
pay him for the iron he had delivered on the ground of
hia having insulted "the Lord/'

182 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

The iron mines of Angat^ in Bulacan, are richer and
purer than the best Spanish ore so much in demand by
English forges.

In Luzon and Mindanao are large outcrops of copper
ores^ \?hich are utilized by the savages^ but not by their
Christian superiors. Unlimited amounts of sulphur and
arsenic are found in different parts of the archipelago.
Coal is found in Cebu^ Luzon^ Negros, and Mindanao.
A small amount is extracted at Cebu^ and that of the poor-
est quality. Explorers report discoveries of marble,
dolomite, slate, gypsum, borax, plumbago, granite, sand-
stone, limestone, coral rock, petroleum, and lignite; in
fact, the Philippines seem to be as rich in mhieral re-
sources as the island of Formosa or the Malay Peninsula.

All three districts are of comparatively similar forma-
tion, and strangely enough each was originally peopled
by Malays, and each in the course of time was conquered
by an alien race. Although it has a supply of coal and
uses large quantities which it imports from Great Britain,
Australia, and Japan, the Manila administration prefers
to pay ten or twelve dollars a ton for twenty-five thou-
sand tons every year rather than build a small railway
from Compostella on the island of Cebu to the coast
which will deliver an excellent quality in unlimited
amounts for less than one dollar and a half a ton, cost
price. The difference between the prices represents
enough invested capital to build a railway from one end
of Cebu to the other, with enough left over to connect
Manila and Cavite by rail.

Queerest of all, the opposition to mining enterprise
comes from the friars rather than from the church, and
not from the civil authorities. The motive underlying
the opposition has never been fathemed. On one occa-
9ion th^ Bishop of Jaro said that gold mining made mea

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 183

xneroenary and "worshipers of mammon, and that gold
miners were notoriously drunken and dissolute. This,
however, must be viewed with some suspicion when that
same dignitary favors lotteries and the opium vice, and is
one of the officers of the council which passes upon both
ruinous evils. A Franciscan friar at Cebu said that his
order was opposed to mines and mining because it would
upset the quiet and prosperous rule of the holy church,
and by degrees create a revolutionary and heretical
spirit. That all the rich mining countries had passed
into the hands of heretics and infidels, and away from
their original Catholic owners. Citing California, which
originally belonged to Spain ; India, which belonged to
France; and Australia, which belonged to either Spain or
Portugal.

Another friar explained his opposition on the ground
that mining operations through the use of explosives in
blasting shattered the earth, and so induced volcanic
and earthquake action, from which the country already
suffered more than its share.

Unless, therefore, there be a change in the colonial
government, it is but fair to presume that the vast min-
eral resources of the Philippines will remain neglected,
or at the best a source of illicit revenue to half-caste
speculators and Chinese traders.

184 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES,

CHAPTER XXin.

TYPHOONS.

No grander ispectaole is ever seen by mortal eye than a
great typhoon. Unlike the squalls of the northern zone it
gives its warning far in advance. Twenty-four or even
thirty-six hours ahead the voice of the herald is heard in
the uneasy movements of the barometer. The mercury
falls and rises, falls still lower and rises again, just as if
great blocks of atmosphere were being carried away by
viewless hands and replaced by smaller and lighter ones.
It gets below the twenty-nine inch mark and then ani-
mate nature begins to add its warning to that of the
mercury. Sea-birds fly anxiously as if looking for a place
of refuge. Fishes leap from the water quivering with
nervous excitement to fall back into the waves. Buffaloes
come bellowing to their home. Cats shrink into corners,
and even the pariah dogs whine and growl in vague ap-
prehension. And the air changes in its tinting, the
brightness dies out by a haze slowly forming, and the
blue above changes slowly into a livid yellow. The breeze
dies down, and the city and country seemingly become
silent. Your voice appears to have grown weak, when
3'ou talk you are compelled to employ considerable exer-
tion. The reason lies in the roar of the far-off storm
which is already swallowing up the finer sounds and the
keener notes of everyday life. Upon the horizon is a
black wall tipped ox combed with v^t zqim999i of fleeojr

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 185

snow. It is a giant nimbus, capped by a cumulus larger
than the Himalayas. It moves slowly and majestically,
the whirling storm within may be circling at a hundred
or two hundred miles an hour, but the storm itself moves
leisurely, scarcely faster than an idle man walking along
a sleepy countr3' road.

The sky grows from yellow to brown, and the air
begins to taste as if filled with dust. The birds have all
gone to cover and every animal has crept into hiding.
What little is left of the sun glares out a dull and sodden
red. The black wall now reaches up high into the
heavens, covering one-half of the horizon and over it,
looking like an avalanche about to fall, are the white
masses dashed here and there with red from the refrac-
tion of the sun's rays and brightened into jeweled
caverns by the play of the lightning. The heavy thunder
is indistinguishable in the roar of the wind. It is a vast,
continuous sound, like the boom of a hundred Niagaras.

It devours all other sounds. In a typhoon off Manila
on one occasion a fort fired guns to warn a ship a mile
away, but the guns were unheard on board the ship and
even at the other end of the fort itself. As the cloud-
wall approaches there come flurries of great raindrops.
Fine raindrops take their place, and then a great wave
of wind comes rushing past carrying with it boxes and
barrels, roof tiles and signboards, shutters and awnings,
and the thousand and one movable objects of the city.
The rain becomes mist and everything fades into vague
outlines and half-visible colors. There is no standing
against the atmospheric pressure. The strongest man is
thrown down or hurled against walls along with the
straws and feathers of the street. Then balconies and
roofs are swept away, walls crash, houses collapse, trees
vanish| torn literally from the earth| and the ^roun4

186 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

seems to beoome alive with water, moyiDg things, squirm-
ing creations, dying animals and the debris of the catas-
trophe.

In the center of the typhoon there is a period of
unearthly calm, which is described by those who have
experienced it as being like the day of judgment. It is a
short pause, and then the storm again resumes its course
as if to finish the destruction which it had begun. It
grows weaker and slower, and then the cloud wall passes
on and the sunlight once more falls upon a hideous
wilderness.

The great typhoon of July, 1862, started from Luzon,
devastating a long tract of territory upon that island,
swept across the China Sea, missing Hong Kong, but mak-
ing a belt of ruin from the China coast up far into the
interior, including the entire river frontage of the vast
city of Canton. Over fifty thousand people were killed and
twenty thousand houses destroyed. Professor Doberck,
who is the leading authority upon these storms, says that
they average sixteen a year and occur almost invariably
in June, July, August and September.

The name is a curious one. It bears a striking resem-
blance to the Greek tuphon, a whirlwind, and yet it is
only the Chinese tai-feng, or tai-fung, meaning a large
wind. It seems to have been taken by the navigators of
the sixteenth century from the Chinese mariners and
applied to these special storms. The force of the wind is
something inconceivable. Captain Street, of the P. & O.
steamer Brindisi, passed safely through one in the
China Sea which carried a heavy boat away from the
davits up in the air and held it flat against the mast and
mainyard for fifteen minutes. The O. & O. steamer
Oceanic, sailed through the edge of one in 1892 which
cleauQcl the upper deck of that steamer of everything

Manila an!) tttt: fHtuppmES. W

as if it had been done with a knife, and yet did not
injure the most fragile thing on the forward part of the
vessel.

At Baluoan, in Luzon, a typhoon struck and carried
away one-half of a house, not leaving a piece behind a
foot in length, but nevertheless not injuring the other
half to any noticeable extent.

Their nature is well known to-day, and their move-
ments are figured out with great accuracy. When one
starts, which is always near Luzon, the fact with an esti-
mate of the size, the direction and the velocity of the
storm, is telegraphed to every point in the China Sea, the
China mainland, and the Island of Formosa, so that in
this way people have twenty-four, forty-eight, and even
seventy-two hours' notice in advance. Stranger still,
veteran shipmasters will sail their craft parallel with the
axis of the typhoon without any serious consequences.
On one occasion the steamship Zaphiro, now attached to
Admiral Dewey's squadron, and on two occasions the
steamer Esmeralda sailed from Manila to the China coast
between two typhoon axes, the storm on the south being
about thirty miles distant, and the one on the north
about twenty or twenty-five.

188 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE OTHEB ISLANDS THE LADBONES THE PELEWS THE

GASOLINES.

East of the Philippines lies that part of the Pacific
Ocean known as Micronesia. It contains many islands
arranged more or less in groups. Three of these groups
belong to Spain, and in political geography are attached
to the Philippines. The most important of the three is
the group known as the Caroline Islands, second, the
Marianne or Ladrone Islands, and third the Pelew or
Pelao Islands. The islands are all small, containing a
total area of about eleven hundred square miles,
and fifty thousand inhabitants. They have lost much of
their original importance. The Ladrones, for example,
when first discovered had a population of over one hun-
dred thousand. "What with slavery, religious fanaticism,
and inhuman treatment by officials, they now number but
one-tenth of the sum mentioned. A similar decimation
has marked the Carolines and the Pelews. The unfortu-
nate natives of all three groups are dwindling away, fol-
lowing the footsteps of the best representative of their
race, the Hawaian. While the people resemble Malays,
they are of a different race or subrace known as the
Polynesian. They are taller, broader, and more robust
and muscular. Some of them have features which are
almost Greek in symmetry and proportion. The men
are good-looking, and many of them are more than six

MANILA AND tliE t>rilUPl>INES. Ifift

feet in stature. Many of the women are graceful*
shapely, and pretty, and a few exceedingly beautiful.
Some scientists believe that the Polynesians came orig-
inally from Borneo, and had their origin in a branch
of the Malay race, which at an early age took to seafaring
or wandering in small colonies from island to island.
The people are remarkably gentle, affectionate and simple-
minded. In war they are brave and fierce even to
frenzy.

The Ladrone Islands were discovered by Magellan in
1521, who called them the Islas de las Velas, or the
Islands of the Sails. It is a pity this name was not kept,
as it is both beautiful and appropriate, many of the
islands looking like distant ships when seen by the navi-
gator upon the horizon. Legazpi called them the La-
drones or Thieves' Islands, because one of his ships was
robbed there. In the seventeenth century they were called
the Lazarus Islands, because a nervous captain saw a leper
at a fishing village, and the St. Lazarus Islands by a
Catholic missionary who wished to give them a religious
title.

They were next called the Marianne Islands, from
Queen Maria Anne of Austria. The present usage is to
accept the title given by Legazpi — the Ladrone Islands.
The Jesuit Fathers established a mission in the islands
in 1668. The mission house was fortified, garrisoned
with thirty-one soldiers, and armed with two pieces of
artillery. Within two years after the landing of this
expedition an attempt was made to curtail the liberty of
the natives, and to create a system of taxation. The
natives revolted, and had their first revolution. There
were many revolts from that time on, and through the
last century. Many priests were killed as well as
soldiers^ and these deaths were avenged wholesale. In

100 MANILA AND THE PttlLlPI^INES.

addition to the cruelties of war, each outbreak entailed
larger burdens upon the population. They were com-
pelled to devote so many days every year to govern-
mental work, and also to pay over to the fiscal officers of
both church and state so many measures of grain,
pounds of yam and copra, and so many pigs and fowls.
That the condition is as bad to-day as at any time in the
past is evidenced by the fact that the Spanish blue books
speak almost every year of seditions or seditious natives,
and that less than twenty 3'ears ago the governor, Sefior
Pazos, was assassinated in a popular uprising. The
Spanish government suppresses nearly all information,
but the treasury reports tell an intelligible story in fig-
ures which show that the garrison is as small as safety
permits; that the expense of government has been re-
duced to a minimum ; that the taxes are universal, and
that the entire revenue is one-half of the expense of the
administration. There are nine towns in the islands and
the capital is Agana on Apra Creek. In all of the is-
lands, there are twenty schools, and twenty-six teachers,
on paper. The number of enrolled scholars is about five
hundred, while the attendance is said to be only about
fifty. A government steamer from Manila calls at Agana
three or four times a year.

The Pelew Islands were known of for many years be-
fore they were discovered. So many attempts were made
to find them that at one period there was a popular belief
that the islands were movable, and floated here and there.
Not until long afterward was the reason ascertained to be
strong ocean currents which drove ships out of their
courses without arousing the suspicions of the sailing
masters.

The first time they were seen by European navigators
was in 1686, but not until 1710 were they located, and

MANILA AND THK FHILIPFINES. I9l

occupied by an expedition. Even on this occasion noth-
ing permanent was done. A warship from Manila found
two of the islands, and cast anchor near the shore.
The natives, a fine-looking set of savages, came on board
the vessel, and presented them with cocoauuts, herbs,
and fish. Two zealous missionaries on board went ashore
to erect a cross, and were escorted by an officer of the
soldiers, and a quartermaster of the vessel. While they
were ashore the wind began to increase, and the ship
was compelled to raise anchor to escape the coming
storm. When it was over the captain endeavored to find
the islands, but never found them, although he searched
for a month. According to the natives, the four Euro-
peans were treated very kindly for several years, when
they became unruly and cruel, and were slain. Not until
twenty-five years afterward (1785) were the islands found
again, and a settlement made b3>' a Spanish expedition.
The people of the Pelews seem to have been of a lower
type than those of the Ladrones. They were polyg-
amists and cannibals. They apparently had no religion
whatever, worshiping only their chief, who was usually
the strongest and wisest man of the community. They
had no quadrupeds, domestic fowl of any sort, nor agri-
culture, living on fish, fruits, and roots. They were
strong and vigorous, and led savage but happy lives.
They knew how to make a fire, and how to weave strong
cloth out of banana fiber. They made hatchets and
lances with stone heads, and spears whose points were
formed by rubbing human bones, chiefiy those of the
arm or the leg, down to a point, or an edge like a chisel.
The men wore loin cloths and the women a skirt, which
extended from the waist to the knee. The wives and
daughters of the king, and the great warriors had combs
and ornaments made out of turtle shell. The Spaniards

192 MANILA AND tHE I>HtLIi>l>lNES.

governed the Pelews in very much the same style as the
Ladrones. They put a garrison in the leading Tillage,
which is Babeldruapy and made it the seat of goyemment.

The3' also established settlements on three other is-
lands. The Pelews are a subdivision of the Caroline
administration, which is in turn directly responsible to
Manila. Ecclesiastically the Pelews belong to the
diocese of Cebu, their priests being subject to the bishop
of that province. Legally the Pelews belong to the
judicial jurisdiction of Manila. This noble achievement
of red tape will be properly appreciated when it is re-
membered that almost all difficulties or dissensions arise
in regard to commercial matters, over which the civil
authorities have a jurisdiction, in which the church has
a vested interest, and must be made a party to any legal
proceeding and for which redress must come from the
supreme court at Manila. Any luckless foreigner, there
fore, unless he belongs to a country possessing a strong
and virile government, is compelled in case of a com-
mercial difficulty to apply to all three organizations — a
proceeding which is very expensive, very technical, and,
as might be supposed, very slow.

The Pelews are very poor, poorer even than the La-
drones. The government takes a large share of the prod-
uce from the natives, and gives nothing in return. The
population is gradually diminishing, and is said to be
about one-fifth of what it was when the islands were
seized by Spain. Few ships touch at the ports. There
is no commerce to attract them ; the government has never
erected auy lighthouses, and the naval authorities have
never taken the trouble to survey and chart the islands
and surrounding waters. What hydrographio work has
been done in this respect has been achieved by other
nations, notably the British. The Americans^ Germane^

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 193

Frenph» Dutoh, and even the Portuguese have added their
Bhare to the general total. Much^ however, remains
to be done before navigation in that district will be put
upon a civilized basis.

The Pelews are sometimes known as the West Caro-
lines, and sometimes are included with the most westerly
group of the Carolines under the general title of the
West Carolines. The Spanish administration, which is
the most authoritative body in this respect, divides the
great archipelago in an extraordinary way by making
them two districts, one with the title of the "East Caro-
line and Pelew Islands," and the other "the West Caro-
line and Pelew Islands." This certainly must be some
clerical error, as the Pelews lie to the west of the Caro-
lines, and are as much a part of the Philippines as they
are of the Carolines. The Spanish government undoubt-
edly meant the easterly half of the Caroline group to be
known as the East Carolines, and the westerly half, to-
gether with the Pelews, to be known as the West Caro*
lines and Pelews.

The famous Carolines are a group or archipelago reach-
ing from about one hundred and forty to one hundred
and seventj^ east longitude, and from four to ten north
latitude. They are, therefore, about eighteen hundred
miles long and three hundred and fifty miles wide. They
are noted for the equableness of their climate, the ther-
mometer rarely going below seventy-five degrees, or over
eighty-five. The temperature is nearly the same day
and night, so that the climate comes nearer everlasting
early summer than eifcher Southern California, or Hono-
lulu. Unlike the Marshall Archipelago, immediately ad-
joining on the eastward, which seems to be of exclusive
coral formation, the Carolines are partly of coral, and
partly of basaltic or volcanic formation. At some places^

Xl>4 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

especially Buk^ Yap, Fefan, and Eusaie, the basalt forms
massive mountains of which at least four are three thou-
sand feet high, and many are two thousand feet high.
At some points the rock would seem to indicate a long
line of ui)heayal similar to that of the Palisades on the
Hudson Biver, or the columnar coastline of the north-
west of Scotland. The combination of the two forma-
tions produces a wonderful variety of soil, which, added
to the genial climate and the regular rainfall, makes the
islands remarkably fertile. Almost every vegetable and
fruit, temperature, subtropical, and tropical, will grow,
and while many of the northern vegetable types run to
woody fire rather than to edible tissue, all thrive to an
extreme degree. The coral districts support the cocoa-
nut and other palms, the bread-fruit, taroroot, yams*
potatoes, onions, and other underground vegetables,
while the soil of the basalt rock supports nearly every
other form of plant life. Under savage and Spanish
rule the islands were famous for their beauty and salu-
brity. While during the thirty years when the simple-
minded islanders were under the control of American
missionaries they enjoyed phenomenal prosperity. The
islands reached a stage of cultivation which caused sev-
eral of them to be known as the ''gems of the Pacific."
It is popularly supposed that the islands were discovered
by Magellan, but critical study has disproved this belief,
and shown that his first landing, and the first land he
discovered in this part of the world, was one of the
Ladrones. The existence of the Carolines became known
to the Spaniards in 1721, when two proas blown out of
their course by heavy winds took refuge on a beach near
Agana, where at the time Luiz Sanchez was governor.

They were made prisoners, and when the governor
heard that they came from rich and fertile islands to the

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPJNES. 195

east, he fitted up a small vessel, putting on board a orew,
soldiers and a priest, and adding the prisoners as pilots.
The savages gladly steered the ship to their home, and
the priest and soldiers, seeing that the natives were very
numerous, declined to go ashore, but sailed back to
Manila for reinforcements. That their caution was
justified was soon demonstrated. The new expedition
from Manila had several priests and a large company of
soldiers. It reached the Carolines, disembarked,
attacked the natives, and was promptly resisted and
routed. Nearly all the soldiers were slain as were also
some of the sailors in the landing boats. This discour-
aging reception postponed for a long time further at-
tempts to subdue the natives. Later on an exploring
expedition returned to Manila with much interesting in-
formation concerning the archipelago. They described
with some accuracy the rock formation, the fertility of
the soil, the wealth of vegetation and the character of the
inhabitants. This they depicted in very forbidding
colors. They were said to be vicious naked warriors and
pirates whose chief joy was war and carnage and whose
amusements as well as training exercises were mock
battles. They were cannibals who filed their teeth, killed
and roasted all prisoners, and regarded young girls and
little children as great delicacies. The queerest story of
all was that the islands were full of Spanish half-breeds
who were the descendants of Spanish sailors that had
been wrecked upon the shores, and had been married on
account of their strength, endurance, and intelligence to
the native women. In the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury the Spaniards took possession of the islands by slow
degrees, and established a quasi-government. They
were greatly disappointed after they came to know the
archipelago. There were no precious metals, nor so far

196 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

aa they knew, metals of any sort. The land was chiefly
forest and underbrush, and the natiyes grew scaroely
enough food for their own wants, relying upon the fish of
the sea and the natural products of the field and the
forest for their sustenance.

They were brave, obstinate, and more indifferent to
death than the Malays of the Philippines. This com-
bination made them Tery hard subjects for Spanish
ofiioials. Thoro was almost nothing for the ingenious tax
gatherer or the official to put his hands upon. If he
tried to arrest the natives and put them to work they
killed the soldiers, and when conquered, laid down in
the grass and diod« or allowed themselves to be tortured
and slaughtered by the officers of the law. After many
attempts the politicians who were sent out from Manila
to govern the various communities lost all hope of pecu-
niary gain. The more ambitious had themselves trans-
ferred to other stations, and by degrees only unsuccessful
office-seekers or men who had lost their hold upon the
administration would accept a position in this out-of-the-
way archipelago. This is well shown in the Spanish
blue books. For all the East Carolines there is only
provision for a lieutenant-colonel and staff with a total
allowance of four thousand nine hundred dollars a year,
while for the more scattered West Carolines and PelewB
together there is allotted a lieutenant-colonel and staff,
and an expenditure of five thousand nine hundred and
seventy dollars. This may be compared with the unim-
portant district of Mindanao, where the allowance is
nearly twenty thousand dollars a year. In the Carolines
the two most important, if not the largest islands, are Tap
and Ponape. Tap is the center of government for the
East Carolines and Ponape is the seat of the vioe-
governor of both the East and West Carolines.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINESc 197

While the Spaniards allowecl the islands practically to
run themselves^ there grew up a curious barter trade
between the natives and venturous traders^ especially
British^ American, and German. They loaded small sail-
ing vessels with stocks of calicoes, looking glasses,
knives, tinseled jewlery, and cheap firearms, and ex-
changed them with the natives for food, and copra or the
dried ripe cocoanut meat. The traders were frowned
upon bj' the Spanish government, which at first tried to
suppress the traffic by imposing heavy duties. The
traders thereupon refused to enter any ports where there
were officials, and did business at sea more than a
marine league from the shore, the natives coming off in
boats. The Spaniards tried to suppress this with gun-
boats, but the very first collision occurred beyond the
league limit, and brought down such a storm of protests
from the diplomatic world that the practice was discon-
tinued. The gunboats were withdrawn to Manila, and
in the last report from Madrid there are two warships in
th« Philippines, both of them hulks which can never
be moved from their anchorage, and two very small gun-
boats employed for the transmission of mails and the
official use of members of the administration. At the
present time the copra traffic is a feature of life in the
islands, and is a distinct benefit and civilizing agency to
the islanders. American missionaries first visited the
islands in the forties, and found them a very promising
field. Although nominally there were Catholic churches
in every island and the official list gave the names, places,
and salaries paid, yet the lists themselves appear to have
been drawn by either prophets or humorists, for they
had no foundation in fact.

In 1852 the Amerioan Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions and the Hawaiian Board of Missions

198 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

Bent an expedition to the Carolines and landed a number
of evangelical workers on the two islands of Ponape and
Eusaie^ which are in the extreme eastern part of the
archipelago. Their prompt success aroused great enthu-
siasm in both New York and Honolulu, and many men
and women followed the pioneers to these lands. In
four years there were over thirty workers in the field, and
the children of the United States built their first mis-
sionary ship — the Morning Star. Ifc was the first craft to
reach the Philippines which did not contain a soldier,
loaded cannon, rifle, or barrel of rum. The Morning Star
{rrew old in the service and was succeeded by a larger
and better ship. This, in turn, by a third, and the
third by the present one, which has an auxiliary steam
engine, which enables it to proceed in calm weather
and to enter narrow harbors and rivers where a sailing
ship is often unable to go ahead. The missions flour-
ished, island after island being invaded by the preachers,
American, Hawaiian and native, until there was a church
and congregation upon nearly every island. The only
Spanish settlement which did in reality exist was at Yap,
and even here no particular opposition was manifested to
the calling of the Morning Star and to the work of native
gospel readers. The work, though pleasant, was slow.
The natives at the outset were like lazy children who
do not want to be bothered with lessons, and who run
away the moment expostulation is begun. In 1886,
thirty-three years after their arrival, thirty islands had
been Christianized, and on many of them the heathen
practices of the forties had become vague memories.

Nearly every community had learned how to build
houses, to till the fields, to wear clothing, to prepare and
preserve foods, to build roads and to conduct their own
schools. At Pingelap, which lies to the northwest of

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 199

Eusaie and to the east of Ponape, the natives built them-
selves a ohuroh to accommodate eight hundred people,
nearly all the population of the island. The missionary
report of 1888 gives the number of churches as forty-
seven, and the members as forty-five hundred. All this
came to an end in a sudden and cruel manner. As many
careless writers have charged the closing of the Microne-
sian mission to fanatical intolerance, Jesuitical plots, and
all sorts of causes excepting the true one, a simple state-
ment of the facts may be of advantage. The Spanish
administration knew of the presence of the American and
the Hawaiian missionaries in the Carolines, and made
such inquiries as they thought were necessary. When
they ascertained that no adverse claims were made re-
specting ownership or nationality, and that no attempts
were made to buy up or control the real estate, and no
acts done irreconcilable with Spanish authority, they
took no action whatever against the evangelical organiza-
tion or movement. In the late seventies a bishop of
Manila, in speaking on the subject, said it was better
that the Indians should be civilized by Protestants rather
than remain heathen cannibals. This condition of affairs
would probably have remained unchanged if it had not
been for the new policy of the German Empire. In the
eighties it began to display a desire to enter the coloniz-
ing business like England and France. It looked around
the world and found at that time that the only lands
which might be claimed were in Africa and the Pacific
and Indian oceans. As all readers know, they soon es-
tablished their sovereignty at various points in all these
districts. There were several conflicts and disagree-
ments between Berlin and Madrid, in most of which
Berlin retained the upper hand. In 1885 there was a
rumor that a German man-of-war on the China coast had

200 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

reoeiTed orders to prepare for a long yoyage, and to take
possession of some islands in the neighborhood of the
Ladrones. The news was cabled to Manila and Madrid,
and in a commendably short time the Manila administra-
tion had dispatched a man-of-war to Yap, having on board
Lieutenant Capriles, who had been appointed governor
of the Carolines. He arrived in due season at Yap, but
be^^'ond engaging in dinner parties and social functions,
in which he consumed three days, he did nothing. On
the third day the German warship litis entered the har-
bor, landed a file of marines and hoisted the red, white
and black flag of Germany. Oapriles returned to Manila,
where a panic immediately occurred. The walls of the
citadel were repaired, earthworks and fortifications were
thrown up on the seashore and at Cavite, and many resi-
dents fled to the suburbs. The German residents were
attacked by rioters, and for a time confusion reigned
supreme. The news was cabled to Madrid, where, of
course, a larger riot immediately broke out. The Ger-
man embassy was stoned by the mob and its coat of arms
torn down and burned. There was a warm diplomatic
quarrel between the two countries, and the matter was
finally referred for arbitration to the pope. During the
submission of the case no movement was made by either
the Spaniards or the Germans; in fact, there was no
government whatever. The matter was under advise-
ment for a long time, and was then decided in favor of
Spain. This so delighted the administration in Manila
that it gave a grand demonstration and fireworks, and
did nothing for over a year. In 1887 it determined to
establish its authority in order to prevent any further
troubles of the same sort, and thereupon organized the
existing system.

Oolonel Posadillo was made governor of the East Oaro-

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 201

lines, and was sent to the capital, Ponape. With him
were clerks, a company of soldiers under a lieutenant, a
gang of convicts, and a small regiment of Spanish Capu-
chin Friars. Posadillo was what we would call a crank.
He went to his pos^i full of gall and bitterness. The
decision of the pope had irritated him greatly, as it had
most of the Spanish politicians. The decision was not va
favor of Spain, although it was so far as the Carolines
were concerned. Spain's claim had been for Microne-
sia, of which all the islands had been credited to her by
geographers and cartographers from time immemorial.
Great Britain, with customary shrewdness, had already
taken possession of the Gilbert group, while Germany
had taken the Marshall group, including the Badak and
the Balik islands. If the pope had given the Carolines
to Spain, he confirmed the title of the Gilberts in Great
Britain, and of the Marshalls in Germany.

This to Posadillo was highway robbery. Under form
of law, national, international, and ecclesiastical, and
under the form of religion, he and the Fatherland had
been robbed of two-thirds of their possessions. It was a
trick, a plot, a conspiracy. It made him doubly mad
that his countrymen at Manila had rejoiced over the
decision. He did not believe that half a loaf was better
than none, and the action of his compatriots increased
his ire. His sentiments were so ferocious and his con-
duct so unpleasant that it was difiScult to get any good
officer to accept a detail under him or any self-respecting
priest to take charge of Mr. Posadillo 's religious squad.

The lieutenant who went was an incompetent sub-
lieutenant, who hoped by the sacrifice to secure promo-
tion, and the Capuchin Friars are so disreputable a
lot of characters that even in Spain they are the butt of
the populace. Under such auspiees there was a very

I 202 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

lively time. Posadillo began operations by arresting
natives and levying fines and taxes in every direction.
The soldiers introduced liquor, which was unknown
under missionary rule, and the gang of twenty-five con-
victs whom Posadillo had brought with him to erect a
fort immediately started a series of thefts and even
graver crimes. The missionaries protested, and were
immediately insulted and browbeaten by the governor.
The Rev. E. T. Doane resented the governor's abomina-
ble behavior, and gave notice that he would protest to
the State Department at Washington. This was the
spark that lit the magazine. He was promptly arrested
and sent a prisoner to Manila, on June 16, 1887, just
three months and two days after the new governor
arrived. Dr. Doane was tried by the governor-general,
who acquitted him and gave him not onb** an honorable
discharge, but a very complimentary testimonial. Dr.
Doane returned to Ponape, and found everything in
chaos. Natives had been robbed; the missionaries had
been maltreated; seven of the mission schools had been
closed ; some of the workers had gone back to the United
States ; the leading islanders had been enrolled among the
domestic servants of the governor, and were blacking
boots, scrubbing floors, carrying water and lighting the
pipes of the governor and his staff. The less influential
citizens had been organized into gangs, set to work like
convicts upon roads, fields, and government buildings.
The Capuchin Friars had begun to seize land, confiscate
houses and appropriate the school buildings for religious
uses. In July the natives who had discussed the mat-
ter in the evening after the day's toil was over refused to
return to their gangs. The lieutenant reported it to the
governor who declared the conduct treason, and sent the
officer with the soldiers to arrest and bring in all of the

^

MANILA AND THE I»HlLlt>I*mES. 203

ringleaders. They marched to the place where the
natives were gathered with drawn swords and fixed bayo-
nets and wounded several of the people. This aroused
the old heathen spirit, and the next moment there was a
tremendous fight between the unarmed islanders and
the veteran soldiers. This time discipline lost. The
officer was killed, and every man in the troop was killed
or mortally wounded. The governor and the convicts
fortified the government house and were besieged by an
angry mob. The Capuchins, a cowardly set, fied to the
hulk. Donna Maria, which was anchored in the harbor
at the first outbreak of hostilities. The governor though
an incompetent was no coward. He held the building
for three days, and on the night of July 4th, with his sur-
viving companions, cut his way through the enemy to
the beach, where the Capuchins were to meet 'him in
small boats. But the Capuchins were afraid to under*
take the risk. The boats started from the hulk, and
went back, and the governor and his faithful criminals
were killed one by one. The news reached Manila at
the end of September. In November, the Spanish
authorities sent three men of war to Tonape with over
six hundred soldiers to retake possession and to punish
the rebels. Luckily for the brave missionaries who still
held on to their posts, an American man-of-war, the
Essex, came over from the China coast in time to protect
them from a riotous soldiery. The Essex served as a
monitor for the Spanish officers. A few individuals
were arrested, and sent on to Manila, where they were
tried by court martial. To the credit of the Spanish
government, they received, it is said, a very light sen-
tence, while the court in its written judgment practically
declared that Fosadillo received no more than he
deserved. \

304 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

This was a great victory for the cause of right.
Things ran along quietly for about two years and a half.
In the meantime^ Qeueral Weyler^ corrupt and cruel,
became governor-general of the Philippines. Through
him, or through his administration, the Capuchins re-
ceived many concessions at the expense of the islanders.
One was a grant of the land at Oua, a mission station
upon which was the mission church which the islanders
had built themselves, and other little buildings which
they had put up in the course of their practical educa-
tion by American missionaries.

The real object of the concession was to destroy the
mission house. It was concealed under the garb of
patriotism and piety. One-half of this land was to be
used for building barracks for the troops, and the other
half for building a church to be directed by the Capu-
chins. One of the friars surveyed the land, and against
the protests of the people he located the new building
within a few feet of the wall of the mission church.
This meant that the moment the ground was excavated
for the foundation of the church the weak little edifice
alongside would fall in. They said as much to the Capu-
chins, who laughed and sneeringly replied, ''If it does
fall in all the better for everybody." General TVeyler
had neglected to supply the necessary materials for
either barracks or church. The Capuchins induced Lieu-
tenant Forras to impress the islanders into the service of
the state, and compel them to cut the necessary timber.
Some were caught by the soldiers, who were fifty-four in
number, and taken with them to the neighboring forest.
The other islanders escaped, and though supposed to be
far away> were lurking in the immediate neighborhood.
One of the soldiers struck a native, and immediately
those who were impressed, and their hidden friends.

Manila and the Philippines. 205

attacked the troops^ killing the officer and twenty-seven
men, and wounding nearly all the rest. The news
reached Manila, and was cabled to Madrid. The cabinet
held a session, and at the suggestion of Ganovas, the
prime minister, it cabled the governor-general to punish
the rebels at his own discretion. He prepared a large
expedition, and in September, 1890, sent six hundred
soldiers on a transport, accompanied by a gunboat.
Hearing that the natives had gathered in force, the gun-
boat shelled the woods, using the old mission house and
the houses of the neighboring settlement as their target.
They annihilated the poor little town, but did not injure
an islander, all of these retiring at the outset beyond the
range of the cannon. The troops landed and held a
celebration in honor of their victory. The festivities
were marred by the discovery that they had been very
poorly provided for by the commissary department.
They marched after the savages, as the Spaniards termed
them, confident that they would exterminate the entire
population, but instead of that the quiet natives fought
like demons, defeated the soldiers, and chased them
down to the shore under the protection of the cannon of
the gunboat.

There was neither medicine nor surgical appliances on
either gunboat or transport. There was hardly enough
food left for the return passage, and many of the
wounded died from privation on 6fac voyage. The com-
mander of the expeditio;^; a brave and honest soldier,
was so heartbroken bj" 23r>irjg made the victim of official
dishonesty and corrupt^oi2 that he blew his brains out.
The missionaries, sec/xg that there was no hope for them,
left Ponape on the United States man-of-war. Alliance.
The law of the FLUippines was immediately afterward
applied to the C*«roIines, permitting no Protestant tsAfr

i 206 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

fiionary to ply his calling in the territory. The Morn^
I ing Star was forbidden to touch at any port^ or to hold

j any intercourse with any natives upon the sea except

I under the guns of the port of the harbor. All Bibles,

I testaments, and schoolbooks were prohibited, and all

natives were forbidden to hold any intercourse, directly
or indirectly, by speech or writing, with any of their
American or Hawaiian friends. Since that time little
has occurred to change the simple life of the Caroline
Islands. There have been several small riots in which
Spanish soldiers have been wounded or killed, and many
natives shot in return, but nothing has been attempted
to better the condition of the population, or to extend
the light of civilization to the few islands where no mis-
sionaries have ever been.

MikNILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

207

CHAPTER XXV.

THB 8TOBY OF BIZAL.

Thb last insurreotion in the Philippines^ which, though
suppressed by Governor-Oeneral Biviera broke out again
in time to coincide with and become part of the Ameri-
can war against Spain, was occasioned largely by the
somber tragedy of Dr. Jose Bizal. Bizal belonged to
the Province of Gavite, and is said to haye been a half-
breed, three-quarters Spanish and one-quarter Tagal.
He was of small stature, pleasant manners, and great in-
tellectual ability. His family was well-to-do, and he
received as good an education as the Philippines pro-
vide, closing his study year with a course in St. Thomas'
University, of which Brother Gomez was the head. He
afterward became connected with the institution, and
lectured to the students. He was a frequent visitor to
Hong Eong, where he was well known 'and greatly ad-
mired by the leaders of British society*

While unobtrusive and even retiring in his manners,

he had always the courage of his convictions, and when

it was necessary expressed his opinions logically and

with power.

During his school and college life, he saw much of the

corruption of both the state and church, and the first
trouble he had in life was when he once wrote a private
letter in which he spoke of the necessity of a better en-
forcement of the law8| and especially of the removal or

208 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

expulsion of dishonest officials and immoral priests. This
letter ^ot into the hands of the authorities^ and Bizal was
arrested^ and warned that the communication was tainted
with treason and blasphemy. He studied medicine^
obtained his degree^ and became a skillful physician.
At the same time he began to take a deep interest in his
fellow citizens, the natives. His medical skill, kindly
nature, and humane conduct soon made him Tery popu-
lar, and ere he was twenty-eight he was a recognized
leader of the common people. During this period he
made a special study of the abuses, administrative and
ecclesiastic, that came under his notice, and those which
were reported in the official publications. In a short
time this list made a volume of which every paragraph
was an indictment. Bizal was too good a politician to
use this material, much less to publish it. He knew
that if he did his life would not be worth a second's pur-
chase. He was as determined as ever in the cause of re-
form, and fondly hoped that by uniting all the better
elements of the Philippines a more righteous state of
affairs could be brought about, and in the event of fail-
ing at Manila that an appeal to Madrid would, in the
course of time, result in the desired amelioration. His
colleagues in the movement were much more distrustful
of the politicians and the friars. They kept on their
work of organizing the moral sense of the community,
but at the same time they were careful to do nothing
which could be construed into a violation of law. What
was of equal importance, they kept their eyes always on
the leaders of those whom they regarded as the enemies
of the state. In 1890 Dr. Bizal published a pamphlet
in which he set forth his views, and eloquently pleaded
for juster laws, and the thorough enforcement of the
[ laws already existing. He depicted in a graphic, but

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 209

not a passionate way> the chief abuses ivhich prevailed^
and the terrible sufferings of the natives in many dis-
tricts. The pamphlet was manly^ inteUeotual, and
patriotic. It was frank and sincere, and represented the
best thought of a Spanish gentleman, a loyal citizen, and
an upright Eoman Catholic. Within a week the work
was suppressed on the ground that it was seditious and
heretical. Kizal was denounced by the ultramontane
and Jesuitical press of Manila^ and his prosecution was
demanded by at least one of the suffragan bishops. The
governor-general at that time was General Weyler, who,
after debating the matter^ determined to arrest Bizal.

The latter, however, had been warned in time and
escaped from the port on a British steamer to Hongt
Kong. It is said that he was sent on board in a pet-*
forated box, and lay there until the ship was under way.
He reached Hong Kong where he was received with open
arms by his friends, who had been notified by cable of
his coming. The newspapers of the city, the Htmg'
Kong Telegraph, Mail, and Daily Press took up his cause
with great earnestness, but he with rare modesty refused
to express any opinion. Nevertheless the action of the
papers was made into another offense by the church
dignitaries of Manila, and brought up against him after-
ward on his trial. For about a year he attended to his
private business, and took no part in public matters.
This silence made his enemies all the more apprehensive.
In their endeavor to get him within their power they
planned as cruel and wicked a conspiracy as ever ema-
nated from a Spanish brain. The governor-general of the
Philippines wrote him a special dispatch stating that he
was too good a citizen for the state to lose his services;
that his past offenses were forgiven, and that he could
come back at any time in perfect safety. He promised

210 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

perfect immunity from all prosecution, civil and criminal,
and added that the only condition he must insist upon
was that in the future Bizal would abstain from similar
action. Eizal was homesick, and was delighted to re-
ceiTC the communication. His compatriots advised him
against returning, declaring that there was a trick in the
matter, but his British friends took the other side, and
said that the governor-general could not afford to violate
his written promise ; and the governor-general did not.

Bizal went back to Manila with full confidence in the
governor-general. He knew that there were other foes,
and took every precaution against them. Thus when the
ship arrived he compelled the customs officers to search
thoroughly all his baggage and that of his servant, and
to examine the clothing of both. He had them mark
everything with pencil, and had it done in the presence
of the officers of the steamship. He landed, took rooms,
received a hearty welcome from his patients and rela-
tives.

Two days after his arrival, while he was absent attend-
ing a sick friend, a squad of soldiers, led by an infamous
church spy, broke into his rooms and forced all his
trunks. The spy found in them several copies of Bizal 's
pamphlet, and several manuscripts, giving the details of
outrages by friars in the savage districts. Bizal was
thereupon arrested, indicted and tried. On the trial he
denied that he had ever imported the books, or that he
had ever seen them. He stated that they were not where
they were found when he left his rooms two hours before,
and that if they had been found there they had been put
there by somebody either in his absence when the room
was unoccupied, or in the presence of the searching party.
He asked the court to call the customs officers who had
searched his trunks on the steamer, or the steamship

I

1 !

I

i

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 311

o£Soers who had seen the search. The request was
denied. He asked the court to oall the owner of the
room, and the soldiers who took part in the search.
This was denied. He asked that he be allowed to pro-
duce witnesses as to his truthfulness and honesty. This
was denied. He then asked permission to produce wit-
nesses to prove that the church spy, the only witness
against him was a convict, a thief, a liar, and a profes-
sional perjurer, and this request was denied. The aroh«
bishop was at the trial, and took part in the delibera-
tions. The court returned in a few minutes, and found
the accused guilty of sedition and blasphemy, and sen-
tenced him to a year's imprisonment and transportation
to the jail at Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago. They denied
leave to appeal, and shipped him the next morning upon
a gunboat. So outrageous was the wrong that the Brit-
ish consul at Manila filed a protest with the governor-
general, and riots broke out in Gavite and South Luzon.
The latter part of the outrage on Eizal was committed
not by Weyler, but by his successor Despujol. When
Bizal regained his liberty he left the Philippines and
went again to Hong Kong. After staying here some
time he joined a committee of Philippine patriots, styled
revolutionists by the Spaniards, who went to Madrid to
lay their grievances directly before the throne. The ex-
pedition, it is needless to remark, was time and trouble
thrown way. The officials and friars had worked up so
strong a sentiment against the patriots that when they
landed in Spain they were mobbed. This not proving
sufficient to deter them, they were arrested and sent
back on the old [charges of sedition and impiety. They
were tried in Manila, and found guilty upon a concealed
clause in the indictment, which charged them with being
members of a revolutionary society. On December 6,

312 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

1896, Bizal was led from his cell out into the yard of the
Manila prison, and there ahot by a file of soldiers.
When the reTolution against Spain broke ont, one of the
Terj' first to join the insurgents was Eizal's widow.
When the United States declared war upon Spain the
first prominent Spaniard to leave was the archbishop of
Manila, who is now a refugee under the British flag at
Shanghai^ China.

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. *il3

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE FUTURE OP THB PHnilPPlNT-S.

The future of the Philippines depends chiefly upon the
great powers of to-day. The land is marvelously rich in
minerals, in lumber, in agriculture and in water power.
It has numerous bays and harbors which are safe, com-
modious and convenient. Its climate is naturally salu-
brious, and under a wise and beneficent government the
territory could support a hundred million human beings
in comfort, and a smaller number in luxury. Properly
directed, it could be made the scene of extensive manu-
factures, and an invaluable market for the New World in
the East and for Asia in the West. From its ports fleets
of steamers would carry its own products and bring back
those of other lands. All that it requires are justice and
wisdom. Its people are good types of poor humanity, no
better and no worse than other communities around the
globe. Under favoring influences the race to which the
islanders belong has proven itself capable of civilization
and of progress. The Tamil cities of southern India are
among the quietest and most industrious communities,
and the great island of Java has for more than a century
poured a Niagara of wealth into its parent country, the
Netherlands. The Malays of Singapore make law-abid-
ing and orderly British citizens, and even under the
cruel rule of the Spaniards many Tagal and Yisaya sub-

je^to ]bav0 demonstra(ie4 ik^iv high ability an^ worth,

H

214 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

With law and order established^ with roads connecting
all the districts, with schools and a kindly goyemment^
the islanders could be raised to a high level of civiliza-
tion in a single generation. Nature has been lavish in
generosity, and only a little is demanded from those of
her children who have for those who have not. What
would become of the islanders if their destinies were
committed to themselves is difficult to predict. They
could not go very far wrong, because the gunboats of
civilization do not permit the impulsive savage to inter-
fere with the welfare or enjoyment of his next-door
neighbors. The submissiveness and discipline which
three centuries have stamped upon the Philippine char-
acter would not be outgrown in fifty years, and would
undoubtedly preserve the peaceful, social and political
conditions without which there can be no progress.
Among their own people are many who would take the
reins of power the moment their countrymen enjoyed the
liberty and independence which self-government involves.
The worst possible fate for the islands is to restore fhem
to their inhuman and wicked owners. No matter from
what point of view it be regarded, such a transaction
would be at variance with every law of right. So far as
progress, science, ethics, and civilization are concerned,
Spain is deaf, dumb and blind. The years have taught
her no wisdom, but have only torn out her teeth, ex-
tracted her claws and paralyzed her muscles. The tiger
of Alva is the snarling but impotent senile beast of 1898.
It knows but one principle of government, the extermina-
tion of all who object to its rulings. Its treatment of
the Philippines has never changed. It has been the same
as that of the Carib, of the Inca, of its own children in
foreign lands. The population of the Ladrones sank in
two hundred years from more than a hundred thousand

MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 215

to one tenth of that number; the population of the
Philippines has been killed off from twenty or twenty-
five millions to six or eight millions. Iniquitous laws
and practices have stolen all the lands from the inhabit-
ants and given them to the church and the state. A
once happy people are now miserably poor, while the
tangible results of their labor have been taken away in
the huge fortunes of politicians and officials or the enorm-
ous funds and swollen treasuries of the religious orders.

If the war with the United States had never
occurred the crushing process would have continued un-
til Japan, Germany or Great Britain interfered and did
for the Philippines what America is doing for Cuba.
What the Philippines need is not annexation by any
country, but only a protectorate which will enable them
to develop morally, socially, industrially,as well as polit-
ically. No matter what that protectorate may be, even
were it Chinese, it would be far kinder and more benefi-
cent than Spanish rule. The best protectorate is that
which would be furnished by either the United States or
Great Britain — the two countries which more than all
others recognize the sacredness of human liberty, the
organic rights of the individual, and the duty of the
state toward the education and amelioration of the
citizens.

Under such a protectorate the Philippines would soon
come to look upon their Spanish thraldom as an awful
ghost of the night which had passed awi^^ forever. Nor
should we forget that under decent government the
Philippines would soon be the best market for the Western
and Pacific States.

The climate is too warm to grow wheat and the north-
em cereals, yet the people have learned the palatability
and nourishing qualities of bread, and purchase it when-

216 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

ever they can. Cotton [does not thrive well, although
cotton cloths are always in heavy demand. While the
natives are skilled weavers and utilize the natural
resources to the utmost, producing matchless pineapple
cloth, banana cloth and silk goods, yet these are costly
tissues, and are intended for the wealthy few and not for
the masses. The bulk of the people for their daily attire
prefer cotton goods, colored and gaudy. In wheat and
flour the nearest rival of San Francisco is Bombay. In
cotton goods the nearest rivals are Japan and China.
But in this rivalry there is but little danger for the
American manufacturer. He exports these goods to
Japan and China at the present time, and competes with
the native manufacturers in their own market. Doing
this he needs scarcely fear them in markets as strange to
them as to himself.

There will be a vast field in the Philippines for narrow
gauge railways and for cheap and strong steamboats. In
the movement of the products of the field and the forest,
transportation is a more serious question than produc-
tion. There are millions of magnificent trunks in the
interior of Luzon and Mindanao which have either an
insignificant value or no value at all at the present time
which would possess high value if they could be carried
at a reasonable cost to the nearest seaport, and thence be
sent to Japan, China, or Hong Eong. With cheap trans-
portation to the nearest harbor, and without the paralyz-
ing burden of Spanish taxation, a lucrative commerce in
hard woods and cabinet woods would spring up between
the Philippines and all the great cities of America on the
Pacific coast. A larger market still will consist of ready-
made iron or steel frames and roofs for earthquake and
t3'phoon houses. Under the existing Spanish law there
is QV99 to-da^ a prpfiliable trad^ in irpi^ beams, irgu

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i^y^^m

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1

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MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES. 217

roofing and iron clapboarding. Taxes and red tape make
the iron shell of the Philippine house oost more than an
entire steel structure would under free trade oonditions.
The land improperly eultirated produoes an excellent
coffee, one which like the Java variety has been singu-
larly free from the disease microbes that destroyed the
plantations of Ceylon.

Under scientific cultiyation the Philippine coffee plan-
tations would in ten years equal those of Java, or even
the more famous ones of southern Arabia. With decent
government foreign capital would be only too glad to ex-
ploit and develop the mineral resources of the archi-
pelago. The little stream of gold which flows illegiti-
mately into Chinese pockets would become a great stream,
enriching all classes alike. The sugar plantations of the
islands are the richest on the globe, and would, under
wise management, afford an inexhaustible supply to the
United States as well as to Japan and China. Under
existing conditions, thousands of tons are exported from
the three treaty points every year, a quantity which would
be soon quadrupled after the sugar tax, the harbor tax,
the export tax, the land tax, and the church tax of the
Spanish dominion were repealed by the new government
of the Philippines.

What Cuba once was to the Atlantic States, the Philip-
pines would soon be to the Pacific States. They would
take by the shipload our flour, textiles, iron rails, beams
and machinery, our leather, paper, preserved meats,
canned foods, boots and shoes, agricultural implements
and cutlery, and they would send in return sugar, hemp,
hard woods, dye woods, coffee, indigo, spices, hides and
skins, gold and silver, cigars and cigarettes. If Ameri-
can policy had no higher motive than the commercial
prosperity of ^e Ainerican people^ it would est^blisli jg^

i*

218 MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

I protectorate over the Philippines the moment that the

dogs of war were called back to their kennels. If its
*' policy is based upon the regeneration and upbuilding of

a long-suffering race, it will either establish that protec-
torate or one jointly with its mother-nation across the
sea.

VBB END.

■t

iJdM

NIL.

A NOVEL.

BY FREDERICK A. RANDLE.

COHTDraaffTA L UBBARY. Clot h, 9L25 ; paper, 60 omtM,

Competent critics have pronounced this book the most elabor<
6te and interesting work of the author. Mr. Handle comes hen*
.^atly by his literary ability, his mother being a Powers, and
•dosely connected with that family so famous for its sculptors and
artists. His present work, At/, abounds in quick action, and may
be classified with that delightful and humorous line of fiction so
eagerly sought by the lover of travel and adventure.

Nesta Storovski, a young Polish lady and belle of Kazan,
Rnssia, Vala, a noble Aleut maiden of the Island of Unalaska,
Laila, a beautiful Ayan girl whose home is on picturesque Upper
Yukon, Imla Van Xen, an Imperial Guard of the Winter Palace,
St Petersburg, are characters in the story commanding highest
admiration ; so also Michael O'Finerty, a verdant son of Erin,
and Jacob Schmidt, an unsophisticated young man from Holland,
both so unaffected in their ways that they fairly dispel serious^
fiesSy take a leading part in the thrilling scenes that mark the pro*
fress of the romance.

The renowned city of Amsterdam on the Zuyder-Zee, Utrecht, a
city of the Netherlands where lived the old Dutch aristocracy, Lake
Wener and the River Klar, Sweden, the Aleutian Islands, and
Alaska are places of importance in the story, made fascinatingly
interesting by a wizard pen.

One f eaturo of this novel may cause reviewers to classify it an
extravaganza, since to an excessive degree the author amusingly
portrays the ofi&ciousness of the police world to arrest people on
the merest resemblance to fugitives ; ridiculous blunders of mii^
taken identity filling the history of such official activity. In thk
portrayal. Nil is almost as ** far fetched " as ** A Comedy o£ Bi>
lors •• and as amttstiig as ** The Merry Wives of Windsor.*^

The story in a tmique manner concludes at Nokomis, TiHf^^
A little city noted for romance and chivalry.

For sale eTerywli«re, or rtat pott-pald oa roeelpt of piteo,

p. TENNYSON l>flSELY, PaUUher,
96 Qm«i Stnet. LeaiOK. 914 ftflh Avmhm. N«w VMk* ,

\-,

, I

UTOPIA.

By FRANK ROSEWATER.

Neely*s Popular Libraiy*
Paper» asc.

VHien one ventures to write upon that puzt
de of the day, a solution of the capital and labor
problem, together with their relations to each
other, it is necessary that the subject be thor*
oughiy studied in advance, since it presents many
peculiar points that demand close attention.
Mr. Rosewater is a journalist who has been
given rare opportunities for seeing beneath the
surface. He also possesses the gift or faculty
for describing what he desires to paint in glow-
ing language. " Utopia " may seem far-fetched
in many minds, but candor compels us to admit
that it is what we are all seeking after, though
with but scant hope of ever finding it. Those
who are interested in the labor question will find
much to commend in this book just as Edward
Bellamy's "Looking Backward" stirred those
^ho longed for a condition of affairs wherein
every man, woman, and child will pass under the
control of the State. *• Utopia *' is winning new
friends every day.

For Mle everywhere, or sent post-paid on reeelpt ofprtetb

P. TENNYSON NEELY. Publisher,
0» Q — o Stf— tt Loadoa, 114 Fifth Avmm,N«wV<

IN THE QUARTER.

By ROBERT W- CHArtBERS,

Author of •• The King in Yellow.*'

Neely^s Prismatic Library.

50 cents.

A new novel by the author of that wonderful book, " The King in Yellow,*
is an event of considerable importance to the reading public ; nor will a perusal
of " In the Quarter " disappoint those critics who have predicted such a glorious
future for Robert W. Chambers. As the title would indicate, the story deals with
life m the Quartier Latin, in Paris, where the merry art students live and move
and have their being, and over which the halo of romance ever hangs ; a pecul-
iar people with whom we have spent many an entrancing hour in company with
such volumes as " Trilby " and " A King in Yellow."

PRESS NOTSCES:

Book Buyer, New York :— " It is a story of a man who tried to reconcile
irreconcilable facts. . . Mr. Chambers tells it with a happy choice of words,
thus putting * to proof the ail alien to the artists.' . . It is not a book for the
unsopnisticated, >et its morality is high and unmistakable."

Brooklyn Citizen :— " Full of romantic incidents."

Boston Courier :— " Interesting novel of French life."

Boston Traveler :— ** A story of student life written with dash and surety
of handling."

Boston Times:— "Well written, bright, vivid; the ending is highly dra-
matic."

New York Sunday World :— " Charming story of Bohemian life, with its
bouyancy, its romance, and its wild joy of youth . . vividly depicted in this
graceful tale by one who, like Daudet, knows his Paris. Some pages are exquis-
itely beautiful.'^

Philadelphia Bulletin :— " Idyllic— charming. Mr. Chambers' story b
'Wicatelytold."

^ New York Evening Telegram :— " It is a good story in its way. It is
tood in several ways. There are glimpses of the model and of the grisette— all
dainty enough. The most of it might have come from so severe a moralist as
George Eliot or even Bayard Taylor."

New York Commercial Advertiser :— " A very vivid and touchingly told
slory. The tale is interesting because it reflects with ndelity the life led l>y cer-
tain sets of art students. A genuine romance, charmingly told."

Congregation A LIST. Boston :—" Vivid^ realistic There is much of no*
bility in it. A decided and excellent moral mfluence. It is charmingly wriMM
from cover to cover."

For tale everywhere, or tent pott-paid on receipt of priMi

F. TENNYSON NEELY, PublUher,
96 Queen Str«ett London. 114 Fifth Avdnue, N«w

I >

i ii

Pi

The Strolling Piper
of Brittany,

BY

John W. Harding,

AUTHOR OF ^A BACHELOR OF PARIS.*'

Cloth, $1.25; paper, 50 cents.

Mr. Harding writes with a masterly pen, and the
pictures he gives us of lowly life in Brittany, among the
humble peasants, are the faithful delineations of a born
artist. It is a rare pleasure to spend some hours in his
company and look upon these scenes through his magic
glass. Besides, the story has a deep sympathetic strain
that revives memories of his earlier work, of which one
critic wrote :

**'A Bachelor of Paris,' by J. W. Harding, is one of
the latest nimibers in Neely's attractive Prismatic Library^
and bids fair to win fresh laurels for that charming collec-
tion of tales. George du Maurier has given us glimpsef
of student life, and created so intense a desire on th^
part of the reading public to learn more of artist life in
Paris, that other writers have hastened to take advantage
of this demand. * A Bachelor of Paris ' calls for nothing
but praise, and the eye is charmed by the attractive covei
of the work, as well as the mind satisfied with the we?l
told tale within."

A BACHaOR OF PARIS. Fully illustrated; gilt top, 50c

For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of prieeu

F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,
96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New Yocfc-